No current new home seems complete without the two-door stainless steel fridge, but designers are rethinking the kitchen to accommodate the latest trends. Ikea, makers of moderately priced home furnishings and masters of storage for small spaces, debuted their Concept Kitchen 2025 installation at this year's Milan Design Fair, which forgoes the refrigerator entirely in favor of the modern pantry.

The Concept Kitchen 2025 looks nothing like the steel, granite counter-topped kitchens we consider the best new option today. The futuristic Ikea model keeps food cool using a combination of traditional cooling methods and smart technology, with an open display to limit waste.
The model kitchen was design by Ikea in collaboration with design firm IDEO, and students from Lund University and Eindhoven University of Technology. The focus is on how we will use and store food in the future, keeping in mind eating trends reverting back to only keeping what is needed for the day, ridding the kitchen of artificial preservatives, and trying to buy local. Other considerations are made for instant delivery of food (like Amazon's drone method) and drought leading to a reduction in the amount of meat we consume. For conscious cooling, Ikea proposes hidden sensors will keep the needed meat and dairy cooled to the appropriate temperature, and the rest stored closer to room temperature.


The idea is obviously advantageous for the energy-efficient home, eliminating the possibility of an overworked, unfilled fridge or storing items at cooler temperatures than necessary. The design also maximizes storage space, furthering our ability to live comfortable in a compact apartment.
Read more about the Concept Kitchen 2025 on Inhabitat.