Ikea will present the living room of the future this week. During the Milan designweek, Salone del Mobile, the furniture store chain will open the Ikea Festival Let’s Make Room for Life.
Multifunctional and flexible
“Our lives at home are drastically changing. An increasing number of people live in smaller homes in urban areas. We rely on technology even more and our living spaces have to serve multiple purposes, which is why Ikea loves to fantasize about the most flexible room in a house: the living room”, Design Manager Marcus Engman said.
“Ikea is curious about everyday life at home. What are people’s dreams, desires and needs in a living room and how can we make this room future-proof? In Milan, we will show how we tackle this challene and we will present our ideas in a vibran atmosphere and create our own festival.”
The kitchen is also a point of focus for the Swedish furniture chain. Customers can visit a virtual kitchen in Ikea Hasselt until 20 May 2017, something that should help customers plan and buy a new kitchen. If deemed a success, the virtual kitchen may also find its way to other Ikea stores.
Ikea Festival
The living room of the future will grant visitors an insight into new collections like Ypperlig, Delaktig, Stockholm, Bjorksnas, Art Event 2017 and Stunsig and new couches Vimle, Red Dot Award winner Havsten and Vallentuna. British designer Faye Toogood, Swedish creative bloggers Anna & Pella and Barcelona-based Openhouse magazine helped create this living room of the future, filled with live work shops, art expositions and the chance to see how Ikea develops products. In this case, Swiss ECAL School of Design’s design students will paint with robots.
In Tom Dixon’s location in Milan, the Teatro Manzoni, Ikea will show a series of short films and talks about the future. Documentary “The Journey of an Idea” will also be shown, to illustrate how the Delaktig collection was created. For those seeking a bit more of a recreational vibe, movies like Saturday Night Fever are also part of the programming. Visitors can watch the entire collection and discover how Tom Dixon and Ikea collaborated, like how students from thee universities (Tokyo, London and New York) helped develop the collection. The location will also harbour an IKEA PS 2017 pop-up store.
