A Strategy to Design the Optimal Asian Indian Kitchen in the United States

University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) A strategy to design the optimal Asian Indian kitchen in the United States By: Vivek Kalyan A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Design as part of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design Summer 2011 Committee Chair: Associate Professor Gerry Michaud Abstract The United States, with its large and changing immigrant population, has an enormous `stake in international migration. Their influence is being felt not only in the economics of the United States but also at the cultural level. The emerging Asian Diaspora, especially the Indian Diaspora, are an important group and form a major portion of the professional smart-class in the American society. The Indian Diaspora in America recreates settings in their home in order to feel less estranged from their original identities. However, the average American kitchen and the allied appliances are not designed considering the socio-cultural background and culinary practices of users. There is a great opportunity for designers to identify and put forward product, spatial and or experiential design solutions for the Asian Indian Kitchen. This thesis challenges the American kitchen design principle of standardization and puts forward a strategy and a qualitative method to remedy the underserved needs of the Asian Indian Diaspora by understanding their preferences, their degree of assimilation to the American consumer society, and how they have adapted to their product environment. ii © Copyright by Vivek Kalyan, 2011 All rights reserved iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank and acknowledge my committee members: Associate Professor Gerald Michaud, Assistant Professor Peter Chamberlain, and Associate Professor Brian Davies for their unparalleled support and guidance to accomplish my research Most importantly, I would like to thank my committee Chair: Associate Professor Gerald Michaud, whose has been a mentor throughout the period of my thesis writing and has put in several man-hours to help me resolve numerous issues and provided personal guidance. Special thanks to all the families who invited me to their homes and provided me the much needed insights to formulate my research conclusions. You people are indeed the source of change. -Vivek Kalyan iv Table of Contents: 1. Chapter 1: Introduction, Background and Problem Statement. 1 1.1. Rise of ethnic diversity 1 1.2. The case of the Ethnic Kitchen: Problem or an opportunity? 1 1.3. Revival of the food culture 2 1.4. United States a Cosmopolitan Society 3 1.5. What is Diaspora? 4 1.6. Emerging Asian Indian Diaspora: Professional smart-class. 5 2. Chapter 2: Literature Review 6 2.1. Who is an American? 6 2.2. Statistical Analysis of Immigrants in the United States. 6 2.3. How are they segmented (assimilation vs ethnic identity model) 7 2.4. Gilbert and Kahl Model 9 2.5. Indian Diaspora explained: Focus on the newly migrated Indian. 10 2.5.1. Distribution 10 2.5.2. Economy and employment 11 2.5.3. Family and Community dynamics 11 2.6. Perception and Value System Compared 13 2.7. Kitchen Design trends from the 90s to the first decade of the Millennium 14 2.7.1. The development of the work triangle 14 2.7.2. Contemporary trends in the design of kitchen 16 2.8. Cultural Assimilation of Indian Food in the United States. 17 v 3. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 19 3.1. Process model employed to Design for a Diverse Population 19 3.1.1. Phase I: Information 21 3.1.2. Phase II: Methodology 22 3.1.3. Phase III: Evaluation 23 3.2. Research Design 23 3.2.1. Part 1: Observational research 23 3.2.2. Part 2: Qualitative research, data collection and interviews 26 3.3. Description of the Instrument 26 3.4. Study limitations 27 4. Chapter 4: Analysis of the result 28 4.1. Introduction 28 4.2. Demographic analysis 28 4.3. Survey Results 30 4.3.1. Food consumption 30 4.3.2. Kitchen usage and space 33 4.3.3. Appliances and amenities 36 5. Chapter 5: Emergent themes, conceptual development and Conclusion 41 5.1. Introduction 41 5.2. Import of convenience 41 5.3. Artificial link to home 41 5.4. SET Factors 43 5.4.1. Social trends 43 5.4.2. Economic forces 43 vi 5.4.3 Technological advances 43 5.5. Product Opportunity Gap (POG): Product Hybridization 44 5.6. Conceptual Development I: Product Opportunity 44 5.7. Conceptual Development II: Kitchen Space 45 5.7.1. Exhaust system 45 5.7.2. Black splash and sinks 46 5.7.3. Dishwasher 47 5.7.4. Oven 47 5.7.5. Microwave 48 5.8. Conclusion 49 Appendix Appendix A: Letter to potential Respondents 51 Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire 52 Bibliography 62 vii List of tables and figures (in order of appearance) Figure 2.1. Assimilation vs. ethnic identity model. 8 Figure 2.2. The American class structure 9 Figure 2.3. Asian Indian immigrant population in the United States 10 Figure 2.4. General Electric Co. model kitchen 15 Figure 2.5. A modern 1950s kitchen with state-of-the art appliances, built-in 15 cupboards and a continuous counter top Figure 2.6. Images from Cornell University tracking research 15 Figure 2.7. The work triangle applied to several common kitchen layouts 15 Figure 2.8. Patel Brothers at a location in Greater Cincinnati Area in the State of Ohio 18 Figure 2.9. Bombay Grocers at a location in Greater Cincinnati Area with Sankalp an 18 Asian Indian restaurant, in the state of Ohio. Diagram 3.1. Structured Process model 20 Table 3.2. Observational study of stores and supermarkets 25 Table 4.1. This table illustrates the demographic make-up of the interviewed respondents 29 Figure 4.2. The picture depicts the Sowbaghya™, a wet-grinder at Bombay Grocers 37 Figure.4.3. Sumeet™ Blender 37 Figure 4.4. Preethi™ Mixie 37 Figure 4.5. Ultra™ wet-grinder 37 Figure 4.6. South Indian Coffee filter 38 Figure 4.7. Indian kitchen tongs 38 Figure 4.8. Both top and bottom depicting rice Sevai and Idiyappam extruder 38 Graph 4.9. Frequency of usage of appliances and amenities of the respondents 39 viii Chapter 1. Introduction, Background and Problem Statement. 1.1. Rise of Ethnic Diversity Ethnic diversity and cultural consciousness is gaining unparalleled momentum in the post-modern world. With the unprecedented new level of people to people communication and globalization, the world is becoming highly flat (Friedman, 2005). Particularly in the United States, we now experience enormous amount of cultural diversity. Advancement in information technology and knowledge sharing has enabled this transformation. The world is seeing a vast amount of cultural assimilation between different ethnic groups. These phenomenal changes have increasingly stimulated the interdependence among the nations. This has also fueled migration of people from once place to another and the rise of cosmopolitan societies at various pockets of the world. Never before have researchers been interested in exploring questions that surround consumer or user needs based on cultural diversity. This study takes on an approach to investigate some of the underserved needs of a transnational community and identifies and articulates areas that can be remedied through design. The kitchen has been chosen as the epicenter to build a case responding to the context of designing for cultural diversity. 1.2. The case of the Ethnic Kitchen: Problem or an opportunity? As previously mentioned, the increase in international communication, business, travel, and the quest for economic and professional gains has led to the proliferation of immigration in communities across the world. Migrants, whose mental outlook has been shaped in settings other than that of the host society, try to recreate those settings when they can in order to feel less estranged from their original identities. But feeling of belonging can still exist even when conditions do not come together to establish community structures. At the family level it is expressed in maintaining religious, culinary, clothing, musical or literary traditions. 1 With respect to Asian culture; culinary practices in particular are a highlight as cooking leads to the direct preservation of culture and ethnicity. The kitchen being one of the most important functional spaces of every residence, houses modern devices and storage systems that help users accomplish various activities, like cooking, cleaning, storing and inventory control. Moreover, the kitchen is the site of cultural differentiation, compared to other spaces in the home. But kitchens in urban residences lack cultural differentiation. Often, the kitchen is not designed considering the cultural background of the user. Much has to do with the food consumption pattern in Asia versus the United States. Due to certain deficiencies and lack of wares and appliances in an American kitchen (with regards to Asian cooking), a large portion of the Asian Diaspora do not indulge in traditional or authentic Asian cooking. When they do, the American kitchen does not fit all their needs. Also, Asian cooking requires time and effort and the average American kitchen is not efficient enough to fulfill the needs. A large portion of the cultural cooking styles and practices are being lost or diluted. It can be argued that defining the problem for a niche market by no means negates the current design of an average kitchen. If there were such a way that the Asian Diaspora could be provided the necessary wares to practice certain authentic and traditional cooking methodologies, it would make them feel less alienated. In order to do so, the question that must be raised is: how can the Asian Diaspora be made to feel-at- home, in the American consumer society? To start with, there is a need to study the socio-cultural fabric and investigate the ethnic practices of food preparation among the emerging Asian Diaspora.

Load more