RMIT University graduate Radek Rozkiewicz has been named 2013 Green Innovator of the Year with an innovative re-imagining of the socially-responsible kitchen that works without plumbing or power.

A Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design) graduate, Rozkiewicz’s completely transportable kitchen, IN Season, was designed for his major project from his final year of studies in 2013.

IN Season was conceived as a response to the designer’s own local investigation of the average kitchen, which looked at the eating practices, food knowledge, bulk-food stores, composting habits and design of domestic kitchens.

“In many Melbourne homes, kitchens are designed for mass-scaled production and consumption of food, encouraged by agri-business and supermarkets,” said Rozkiewicz.

“This results in food habits that are disconnected from local seasonal production, rely on excessive transportation and storage, and value convenience over developing the capabilities of home-made product.”

IN Season seeks to stamp out these unsustainable practices which are almost inevitable in the contemporary domestic kitchen, enabling food lovers to develop the knowledge and capacity to participate in sustainable food systems, such as consuming local and home-made produce.

The design proposes that sustainable behaviour with food with begins with the infrastructure of the kitchen that users are prompted to engage with. It is created for a sustainable two-person household.

A key facet of IN Season is eating food with the seasons. The food storage unit, which changes with the seasons, works in conjunction with a one-year seasonal clock, and allows users to eat locally or homegrown produce.

The kitchen is off the grid, and there is no recycling or rubbish collection, which Rozkiewicz says work to disconnect users from mass consumption and mass waste practices. The only form of waste is compost which is used in conjunction with wastewater to nurture the garden.

The Green Innovators Competition is part of the Sustainable Living Festival, and is held by RMIT University. It invites RMIT students and recent graduates to present their ideas for a sustainable future.

This year’s judges were Eco Innovators director Leyla Acaroglu, product design engineer Simon Lockrey, and sustainable energy expert Alan Pears AM.

Geraldine Chua

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