De habitación de servicio a rival de la sala de estar. Una pequeña historia de la cocina en Francia, del siglo XX al XXI

Abstract

The kitchen is the domestic dependency that has most evolved throughout the 20^th century. It has ceased to be a dirty space—therefore relegated within the house planning—and turned into a competitor to the living room as an area of family sociability, thus conditioning the household structure. Since the end of the 19^th century, the kitchen has been turned into a privileged room for hygiene in which the housewife has «reigned». She has transformed it into a prominent dependency, once the domestic service has gradually disappeared. Consequently, it has been moved to a front position, close to the dining room. In addition to this shift, a radical change has operated in the furnishing of this space, which has been endowed with specialised furniture and equipment and, in turn, models have emerged which have perpetuated its relevance until today. The kitchen has also become an area in which the status of the family can be shown and it has ceased to be a room that should be hidden to become a part of the house that must be exhibited.