Turbo is a portable stove that operates on bioenergy. The pre-assembled object is a kit of seven laser-cut sheet metal parts that can be separated and bent by hand. The stove can be assembled in less than 20 minutes. Designed by Finnish designer Tapio Niemi, Turbo was presented in 1999 after ten years in development. A few years later, it was nominated for the prestigious Index 2005 awards, becoming one of the rare instances when a relevant object is recognized as high design. Yet, its appearance is that of a (Western) prototype more than an (African) evolved useful thing: a bold metal cylinder in search of a function. It looks a bit over designed, and that poses the question of how is this object appropriate for rural Africa: will it last under those harsh conditions, or will it be too flimsy and be quickly discarded? Local African stoves are chunky, crafty, monolithic, heavy and imperfect; Turbo is slick, shiny and Western looking; is that relevant at all? should a cooking stove for rural Africa be about performance only? I would like to see a cooking stove for developing countries that is about form, because that would mean that all the other grand socio-political and economic issues would have been swallowed by the cultural value of the object. After all, the cultural value of cooking is one of the very very few things that are the same in both developed and under-developed countries: cooking will always beat efficient cooking.
