I caused quite a stir last week when I introduced you to my kitchen with the range in front of the great big window. Maybe I tried it because I was never a girl scout, or maybe it’s my claustrophobia-either way, I can say with confidence, that cooking with a giant window in front of you, is pretty darn fantastic. As far as the look using Ikea cabinets and lighting with some nice bin-pulls makes for a great look for not much $$$.
First, in answer to the technical concerns. The 36” Viking gas range pictured here, makes frying up an egg exciting.
A range with this much oomph, should definitely be ventilated. To manage the high output of the burners, the window placed here is commercial, high impact glass, set into an extruded aluminum frame. That’s a fancy way of saying, there’s no flammable wood nearby. This kitchen was designed more than ten years ago, when the trendy talk suggested, we should all “bring the outside in”. Having the range set in front of the window, made me feel like I was a campfire girl. 
The ventilation was minimal, from the awning window above, combined with an old fashioned circular propeller-like (pull-chain) exhaust fan, set high above the window, yet somewhat hidden, behind the slatted wood “valance/ range hood”. The fan was hardwired, to work from a switch instead of the chain, and was also, commercial grade. The cabinet backs were finished with painted bead board, to enhance the look into the space, and the gas shut off valve at the rear of the range, is below the height of the window.
My next incarnation of having the range in front of the window, was made even easier, thanks to the finest downdraft system ever, from the wizards at Wolf Range. The down draft assembly is housed in a closed unit, which sits neatly in the very back, of the cook-tops’ base cabinet. Push a button, and the ventilation pops up, out of the counter surface, from behind the cook-top. It’s 3 inches deep at the most, and its powerful fan draws the cooking grease and heat, down, and “out to daylight”. This arrangement needs some extra planning. The base cabinet here is set to allow 30 inches of counter surface depth, so the cook-top and ventilation in combination, have a few extra inches of clearance at the window The ventilation unit itself, sits right in the back of a stock base cabinet-oh yeah-German engineering-meets George Jetson….
In answer to the utility of keeping things clean, I considered in my planning that for generations, every kitchen sink was placed at the window, and the kitchen sink, is a messy spot to be sure. I never found keeping the windows clean behind the range, any more of a chore, than keeping a fancy back-splash free of tomato sauce. In my own kitchens, the most beastly cleaning task is keeping the heavy grates of commercial grade ranges looking neat and clean. This job is so troubling in practice, that I’ve learned to never specify a commercial grade range for a client sporting an impeccable french manicure. (Unless, of course there’s a housekeeper or very fastidious significant other in the picture, in which case, none of these things matter quite so much do they?)
More than anything, I think the idea, and even the practicality, of placing a range at the window, makes sense in a modern kitchen design, simply because, a modern kitchen, is a bigger kitchen. I’ve had good luck with this placement, and honestly, I can’t think of a single reason not to do it if you can. It’s possible there may be too much glare or sunshine, and it’s worth making absolutely sure, that the view is great. But even when it isn’t, star gazing, radical design claustrophobics like me, put a window right nearby, ESPECIALLY, if the range, occupies the south wall of the kitchen. 
