Interesting! And I get why they're frustrated with clients who don't get it. But I have to say, I need a good triangle as well, even with zones. It's just that instead of a single work triangle, there are several overlapping ones for each zone. Fridge/prep/stove, baking/oven/cooling, fridge/stove/cleanup, cleanup/DW/storage, etc. I don't know if others find as many reasons to get into the fridge while stirring a pot as I do, but that was one of the main factors in the extent of my redesign. OTOH, for baking it doesn't matter to me the distance from the fridge, because the milk, etc., go in at the beginning, and there's time to go get an egg for a wash before things get in the oven.

Not to revive the "huge kitchens" thread here (oh lawdy no!), but the idea of killing the work triangle and replacing it with zone creation doesn't work across the board, regardless of kitchen size. In fact, my galley kitchen is so small that there is no way I don't have some kind of triangle between the sink, stove and range -- even when I didn't set out with a specific intention to achieve that result in the first place!

I don't think that she meant you should avoid a work triangle, but that you shouldn't be constrained by thinking you have to have one in order to achieve an ideal design. Trying to achieve separate work zones, like the multiple triangles that plllog describes, or side by side rectangles is actually much more workable in today's kitchens. Kitchens now need to accommodate more than just a lone housewife.

And I understand that as well.(As with everything, how you come to these discussions that start off with broad generalizations has a lot to do with your individual circumstances.) Not only do I have a small galley kitchen that is physically separated from the living and dining room areas -- in a very old house, but also, I'm a single empty nester. Now, to be honest, I would love to have a bigger, open space kitchen where I can invite other cooks, family members and guests to join me in occupying the space! But such a kitchen is not achievable in my house unless I am willing to seriously alter the original footprint. Not! In this situation, even in 2009, the traditional triangle is ideal. :->

I always thought of zones as a collection of smaller triangles, too (maybe more of an open pyramid of sorts, with sides being shared by the different triangles). I think my basic triangle is still fridge-sink-stove, but *prep sink* now instead of one main sink that has to be available to everything and everyone. In a one-person and/or small kitchen where one sink is the only feasible option, I think there still has to be a 'triangle' for efficiency's sake, but, in that case, with little zones inside, if at all possible. I like a place-for-everything, and a place-to-do-everything. I don't want to bake where I do my veggie prep or deal with dirty dishes. (There grows my carbon footprint, I suppose!) I've had medium galley and smallish L with island kitchens...Both had distinct triangles, but also, I think, had zones along each side of the triangle. --I think triangles and zones can co-exist. As one of the people who commented on the article, there are too many variables to make a general rule, and that, I suppose, was the problem with adherence to the old, measured triangle guidelines.