Additional functions of the Kitchen in the Apartment

Kitchen has been an essential space and plays an important role in the house regardless of culture and regional differences. However, due to social and economical changes, kitchen is no longer used only for preparing food and dining which seem to be a traditional function. The purpose of this study is to investigate the additional functions of the kitchen and figure out the related variables. The survey method was used to collect data from 321 housewives living in the apartment sized over 99$\textrm{m}^2$(30 pyung) in Ulsan. The data were analyzed by SPSS/$PC^+$ with frequency, percent, and chi-squared test. The results of this study were: (1) Kitchen was now used for eating snacks(45.6%), keeping household account(42.5%), and chatting(41.6%). (2) Homemakers wanted to do laundry such as ironing, drying clothes, and folding clothes in the kitchen. However, there were several activities(i.e., grooming, rest and taking a nap, exercise) they do not want to do in the kitchen. (3) The variables which related to the additional functions of the kitchen were size of the apartment, age, and level of education. The findings of this study imply that there must be design considerations for chatting and keeping household account such as providing tables and comfortable chairs. In addition, new counter layout types should be developed based on needs of additional functions and related variables.

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