The Italian kitchen that’s a ball to cook in

March 15th, 2012

Leave it to the Italians to design a wickedly unique kitchen that’s actually a ball.

It’s called the Sheer Kitchen and is made by Gatto Kitchens in Europe’s style capital.

In the tradition of Italian manufacturing, the kitchen is hand made, with some of its carbon fibre parts coming from the same plants Formula 1 chassis are put together.

It is a futuristic, circular, freestanding unit that splits in the middle to reveal a circular work bench and appliances. The top sphere rises up and attaches itself to the roof, providing light and ventilation, which Gatto says is silent.

The ball in action with the wall unit beside

The workbench packs a lot of punch with a double sink, four burners (including a lava stone burner for oil-free cooking), three bottle coolers that will cool drinks in minutes, a pull-out table, two pull-out cupboards with benches that rotate around the island, and a couple of power outlets for smaller appliances (if you could find any to match such an original concept).

It comes with an added accessory wall unit for plates and glasses, also made from carbon fibre and stainless steel. Gatto says, “it is predisposed for home [a] video system.” We think this is so one can watch Pavarotti whilst cooking in the kitchen ball.

Before you get too excited about one of these balls rolling into a room near you, bear in mind that because they are hand made only a limited number are produced each year.

Or as Gatto likes to put it: “Obviously as it happens with any jewel the production is limited to a restricted number of pieces per year.”

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.