IKEA Festival is being held at BASE in Milan from 6 to 12 June and will feature installations, upcoming product reveals for much anticipated collections by international designers and a schedule packed with talks and entertainment. As part of Fuorisalone 2022, IKEA is at BASE in Milan with its IKEA Festival, a rich line-up of engaging events and experiences that illustrate the future of design, explore how the relationship between people and their homes has evolved and show how it is possible to create a better everyday life for the many people. Over the full week, IKEA explores life at home and its various future forms through three experiential moments. Firstly, visitors can visit Ögonblick – A Life at Home Exhibition, a fascinating physical and digital installation. As the name suggests – Ögonblick is Swedish for “moment” – IKEA invites us to discover how different moments in life are reflected in the way that people live at home, at the same time exploring the effects that this could have on time and space. From a single-family studio to rooms shared between multiple generations: it’s a story of life at home that is born from a profound understanding of people and their relationship with the spaces in which they live.
Life at Home Stories is a series of short documentaries showcasing people from all backgrounds and their lives at home in various countries across the globe. This depiction of the relationship between people and their homes comes thanks to home visits taking place over many years, the data for which have been collected and analysed in the annual Life at Home Report, a document that outlines the evolution of life at home over the past eight years through the testimonies, stories and points of view of consumers around the world. More than 250,000 people have been interviewed over the years, in more than 30 countries. Finally, we have the First Home exhibition. Outdoors, classic Milanese courtyard housing comes to life, in which IKEA has recreated the homes of three different families, telling the story of those who live in them. Here, IKEA takes a different approach to affordability, examining what people should own and what they can share with others instead. IKEA wants to have a new approach with respect to the choices that can be made to make the ‘first home’ more affordable, examining how sharing and sustainable attitudes can benefit not only your budget but the planet too. “Fuorisalone is an unmissable event for anyone who is passionate about design and IKEA has been taking part since 1995. We are excited to return with this new IKEA Festival format. The aim is to unite people through subjects that are a source of inspiration to them and that are important in their everyday lives. In particular, subjects such as life at home, music, food and design. This is what we were thinking when we filled the 2,600 mq of BASE with creativity and inspiration.” explains Marcus Engman, Chief Creative Officer of the Ingka Group. Across the different days of IKEA Festival, there will be previews of upcoming collections and Democratic Design Talks with IKEA of Sweden’s Design Manager, Johan Ejdemo, in-house Designers Mikael Axelsson and Friso Wiersma, and collaborators including UK-based Designer Ilse Crawford and Rotterdam-based Designer, Sabine Marcelis.
“We are happy to be back in Milan this year, to come together to share and experience some well needed inspiration and optimism towards the everyday“, says Fredrika Inger, Global Range Manager of IKEA. “We look forward to having meaningful conversations around design and life at home, and giving some sneak peeks of upcoming products that celebrate the five pillars of IKEA democratic design: quality, form, function, sustainability and low price.” In the evening, visitors will be able to experience music by international artists. Inside the building, visitors can take advantage of the IKEA store where they can find previews of home accessory collections. There are also kiosks offering visitors the opportunity to try an offering of IKEA food, classic and well-known flavours and dishes using plant-based ingredients: for example, KORVKIOSK, where hot dogs meet fine cuisine and BULLERIA, made of plant balls.
“We are really pleased to be returning for another edition of Fuorisalone, an event that is close to our hearts. Since our first involvement in 1995, we have continued to go back. Fuorisalone engages with the living fabric of the city to bring design in direct and everyday contact with urban life. And for us at IKEA, engagement with the community is essential, precisely because we want to achieve a better everyday life for the many people,” says Asunta Enrile, Country Retail Manager and Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Italy. Over this week of design, IKEA wants to reaffirm its commitment to supporting those who no longer have a home. The furniture and installations that breathe life into spaces of IKEA Festival at BASE will in fact be donated to Opera San Francesco per i Poveri Onlus and IBVA, two charities active in Milan that will use them to make those in need feel more at home. In addition, throughout the week of the Festival, visitors will be able to make contributions towards aid for refugees, by donating EUR 1 to the food kiosks and stores inside BASE. The money raised will be donated to UNHCR, United Nations Refugee Agency.
