Explanation of the hype

Proper recirculating extractor hood and controlled residential ventilation (2x exhaust air in the kitchen). It was much worse with the odors in my parents' house (kitchen separated, of course no ventilation...) even if the kitchen door was opened briefly. So for me, that argument is none.

I find that interesting. So you also planned the open kitchen with 2x exhaust air right away. I can easily imagine that it’s bearable in terms of odors. I would also like to add that we have the closed version as well but with a double sliding door - very nicely conventional. When fully opened, the passage is also very large. That makes it relative again. But completely open is of course an even greater sense of space, no question.

Neverever would I put something from the Chinese takeout in front of my guests (who are mostly also our friends). That is a last resort for both of us when we are too stressed to cook ourselves but very hungry.

We often cook together with friends/guests (our pizza sessions are legendary!) and I admit I am a passionate (and good) cook (when I have the time for it). They are also very happy when we invite them to eat.
That’s sometimes the big menu, or just the quick noodles after a strenuous mountain hike for everyone, sometimes a spontaneous barbecue evening for which we then quickly put something together together (salads, dips, vegetables for grilling etc.) or the pizza session that can last for hours (and is always a fun evening). Everyone makes “their” pizza once, food is eaten on the side, then more is baked, new creations tried out etc. That only works with an open space concept... Or an extra pizza oven in the garden in summer.

For me, cooking is not something I exclude from life but an integral and IMPORTANT part that I sometimes even celebrate. Accordingly, the space concept emerges.
If you only see it as the mere intake of necessary nutrients, which you want to do as quickly, efficiently and with as little effort as possible, you really don’t need a kitchen at all, just a fridge and a niche with a microwave.

I find the topic of "hypes" incredibly interesting and am also happy to share my opinion on the other points.

However, one has to ask oneself whether one has difficulty adapting to new forms or developments if one always wants to orient oneself "to the old." And: where does the hype start, where does the old end?

1. Actually, floor-to-ceiling windows were installed in almost every house,

my living room or in my house gawking?

It’s not about others gawking (I find this choice of words somewhat pejorative—my neighbors gawk as little as I do), but about being able to also view one’s beautifully landscaped garden from the inside. It gives the house spaciousness and creates the illusion of living in nature, even though one is indoors. Furthermore, you can step out of these doors if they are not fixed. So you have the opportunity to access your beloved property directly. In our open living area, we have terrace doors measuring 2 x 2 meters and 2 x 1 meter. All other ground-level rooms have terrace doors. There are no curtains. Privacy is provided by the hedge or by clever planting on the terrace. However, a wider window lets in more light than a simple terrace door, where light illuminates the room more than floor and ceiling. The parapet itself offers protection. This is more suitable for bedrooms in upper-level rooms.

2. There was no house that had the kitchen and dining area separated from the living area,

The topic has been thoroughly discussed. By the way, we have an inexpensive Franke recirculating hood above the cooking island, and in front of it, the controlled living space ventilation exhaust. You do smell odors when cooking, that's acceptable. Fried fish, fondue, raclette, kale, and bratwurst (all rare dishes for us) do smell... Yes! But it doesn't stink. And no door could keep these smells out or contained in one room. You just air out quickly, and everything is fine again. Since this happens very rarely and we also have a fireplace during the cold season, the circumstance is acceptable. The advantages outweigh it.

everyone can invite their friends at some point

.... Yes, you are somewhat right. If you don’t build with a basement where you can have a recreational room for men's nights or women's gatherings, you have to juggle a bit. We have an office/guest room where there is also a TV. So when one of us has personal visitors, the other gladly retreats there. Parallel and separate gatherings for men and women do not exist. Those are more friends who jointly occupy the chairs and sofas.

3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from a child’s room and from the parents’ bedroom.

Poorly planned.

And yes, a balcony is so superfluous with a garden. However, I have to admit that I have longed for a balcony a few times: at night, when it gets too warm for me, I would like to go out directly from the bedroom. Or hang laundry there out of sight. But that is a luxury problem.

Furthermore, I would like to discuss completely non-judgmentally other "hypes" that I remember from model houses. These would be

- the walk-in closet
- separate master / children’s bathroom

Fried fish, fondue, raclette, kale and bratwurst (all rare dishes for us) smell... Yes! It doesn’t stink. But no door could keep these smells out or contain them to just one room.

I am reading this now for the second time. So this really isn’t the case for us. When we close the doors, the smell is hardly noticeable in the living room.

Yes, amazing, I am impressed by what a nice discussion my initial post has sparked. It was really nice to read every single response and it is very commendable how respectfully and empathetically the discussion was conducted! It was definitely very helpful!

Weiter würde ich aber gern völlig wertungsfrei noch andere "Hypes" diskutieren lassen, die ich aus der Erinnerung an Musterhäuser habe. Das wären

- die Ankleide
- getrenntes Master-/ Kinderbad

In my opinion, the walk-in closet depends on how large a house is built. I cannot understand it, for example, when the children's rooms are 8 - 10m² in size, but the parents have a separate walk-in closet. For us (my wife and I), it would not be an option anyway, as getting dressed in the morning only takes a few seconds; I don’t need an extra room for that. And if you want to dress up nicely for a big party, that also works without an extra room.

Why children and parents need separate bathrooms is also not quite clear to me; that would also not be an option for us. But I want to emphasize here again that we are trying to plan as cost-effectively as possible. We do not want to build "cheap," but we really try to only plan the most necessary luxury.

- the dressing room
- separate master/children's bathroom

I'd really like to get into that. The hype around dressing rooms is completely baffling to me. Rooms are chopped up and divided "at all costs" just to create such a dressing room. Then the most terrible tiny rooms with painful room dividers and wall projections emerge, which you usually also bump into. Where it fits and there is space, of course, it is a luxury and certainly not unpleasant. Some floor plans even invite you directly to plan a dressing room. But please not in 120m² houses with 2 children.