Kitchen Parliament aims to empower marginalized social actors through the act of cooking. The project feeds on the network of ‘comedores populares’ that dot the Latin American continent. These community-led kitchens perform as open parliaments, foregrounding marginalized actors by placing them back into the heart of political discussion.

Inspired by the idea that “things” shape the domestic subject, the project incorporates common household objects and relocates them into new orientations. The displacement of objects allows us to study the impact of a simple daily device on its user. Moreover, the redistribution of functions highlights the notion of monumentality within the context of the mundane. The project results in a network of radially-oriented exchange areas. The lavatory, storage area, dining surfaces and entrance/pick-up counters are organized around a central stage. This new kitchen no longer serves simply as a nutritious environment. Instead, it loses its traditional character in order to open discussions and foster new forms of dialogue.

In rendering visible the existing architecture of the site, this new system of spatial governance addresses the critical social components that form a neighborhood, including its political agencies and local actors. Thus, ‘Kitchen Parliament’ becomes a space for the promotion and visibility of key issues that reshuffle the political power-play in the neighborhood and Peru at-large.