About
Built on the Belief
That Less Works Better
Our Story
Founded in Japan,
2019
Rare Island Animals began when Sara Gil, a kitchen systems designer working with renovation clients in Japan, observed the same pattern in kitchen after kitchen: the more items a kitchen contained, the less its owner used it for actual cooking.
Over two years of working with households across Japan, Madrid, and later across Europe, Sara and her collaborators developed the framework that became RIA. Not a design service — a system. One that any person could apply to any kitchen, regardless of size or budget.
Since 2019, RIA has helped thousands of households simplify their kitchens, reduce their inventory, and establish routines that keep the system alive for years rather than weeks.
Our Mission
"To help people reclaim their kitchens through a systematic, thoughtful approach to simplification."
The Team
The People Behind
the System
Sara Gil
Founder & Kitchen Systems DesignerSara spent ten years as a residential renovation consultant before developing the RIA framework. Her approach combines spatial design with behavioural psychology — understanding not just how kitchens are designed, but how people actually use them.
Marc Torres
Chef & Culinary AdvisorTrained in professional kitchens in Paris and Japan, Marc brings the professional cook's perspective to the RIA tool and appliance recommendations. His test: if a professional kitchen would eliminate it, so should you.
Lena Bauer
Interior Design ConsultantBerlin-based interior designer specialising in residential kitchens. Lena advises on the spatial and aesthetic dimensions of minimal kitchen design — how the functional system translates into spaces that are genuinely calming to inhabit.
What We Stand For
Four Values That
Guide Everything
Simplicity
Simplicity is not an aesthetic — it is a functional state. A simpler kitchen is a faster kitchen, a calmer kitchen, and a kitchen that requires less effort to maintain indefinitely.
Intention
Every item in the kitchen is there by deliberate choice. Every system is designed rather than accumulated. Intention is the difference between a kitchen that works and one that merely contains things.
Function
The kitchen exists to enable cooking, eating, and living. Function is the primary criterion for every decision. Aesthetics follow from function — they are never the starting point.
Calm
A minimal kitchen is a calm kitchen. Not a sterile one — a calm one. Where the act of entering the kitchen does not produce anxiety, urgency, or the feeling that something needs to be done.
The Communal Kitchen
A Kitchen Made for
Sharing
The minimal kitchen is not a private, solitary space. It is a kitchen that works better precisely because it is used more — by more people, for more meals, with less friction and less time spent managing the space itself.
When a kitchen is calm, cooking in it becomes something to invite people into rather than something to be apologised for. The minimal kitchen is, in the end, a more social kitchen.
As Seen In
Press & Recognition
Work With Us
Get in Touch
with the Team
For consultations, press inquiries, partnerships, or any questions about the RIA approach, we welcome your message.
Contact Us