Research
During our research, we determined that the holistic social function of the fridge was to create a class distinction in wealth between the "middle" class families and the "poorer" classes families, and to cement the role of middle-class women as stay-at-home homemakers.
Identified Benefits to address
Based on our combined research, we decided to create a design solution that neutralized these three benefits of refrigerators today:
1) Ease of use. Typically, fridges are easy for any member of the family to use.
2) Cleanliness. Fridge cleanliness was identified as a measure of a woman's productivity in the kitchen and how good a homemaker she was. Refrigerators are designed to be easy to clean.
3) Difficulty keeping consistent refrigeration temperatures. Ensuring that the refrigeration is maintained at a consistent temperature to prolong food freshness is essential; for non-wealthy people, they need dependable refrigeration to prevent spending extreme amounts of money on food.
THE SOLUTION
We took the identified benefits of refrigerators and created its antithesis - a wide and short look to the fridge, so it is unable to fit in any part of the kitchen due to its awkward form and included bubble-like windows that add to the unsettling aesthetic. Inside, we included the bare minimum of shelves, without any organizational systems. We also included the uses of materials such as plastic and glass (which have poor insulation) in order to make the refrigeration tech of our fridge subpar. The doors are latch-like doors opened by twisting a knob. While there are two doors, both cannot be used at the same time due to the connecting hinges between them. When combining the doors and small access point, it makes the fridge near impossible to clean with ease, and what adds to the difficulty is that there is no illumination within the product, it relies on outside lighting through the glass and plastic viewpoints. Every aspect was strategically included to subvert the benefits of the fridge, essentially "taking the fridge out of the kitchen."