IKEA is always pushing the boundaries of design and encouraging new designers to think out of the box, hence why IKEA Australia and the University of Technology Sydney have collaborated to open the latest DELAKTIG collection up to students and challeng them to personalise the range to reflect life at home in Australia.
DELAKTIG is an open-source sofa concept, designed by IKEA in collaboration with renowned British designer Tom Dixon, featuring an endlessly configurable modular furniture collection made-up of sofas and accessories. The design vision is based on a platform which can be personalised to people’s constantly changing wants and needs.
Tom Dixon said, “Co-creation is very normal now, particularly in the digital world. I could imagine it’s going to become much more popular in the physical world as well. DELAKTIG is an experiment that challenges the conventional methods of creation and distribution of furniture and explores the notions of adaptability and future-proofing. Ultimately, DELAKTIG celebrates sustainability, longevity, flexibility and creativity.”
The range’s aluminium frame allows for personalisation through clip-on items, such as side tables and lamps, but the range is the first that IKEA has formally encouraged customers and companies alike to modify or add to.
IKEA x UTS
To demonstrate the versatility of the range, IKEA created a 48-hour innovation workshop challenging UTS students to use the DELAKTIG platform to solve common struggles at home in Australia.
Mark Mitchinson, IKEA Australia, said, “At IKEA we are both curious and eager to find solutions to meet the changing demands in the homes of today and tomorrow. Collaboration has always been at the core of our work, so we wanted to learn from the designers of the future and see how they would innovate and contribute their own fresh ideas to DELAKTIG. Following workshops New York, Tokyo and London we wanted to see how up and coming Australian designers would work with the platform.”
Thea Brejzek, Professor for Spatial Theory, Director Interior Architecture, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney, said, “Design has a major influence on the way we live. Working with IKEA and DELAKTIG the students were able to really challenge their thinking linked to the needs and desires of Australians – for example, the desire for personal space in increasingly urban environments and smaller homes, the impact of technology and the need for the home to continually evolve.
The result of the innovation workshop are a range of conceptual ideas that reflect how the students view and understand the world and how we live in it.”
DELAKTIG 2.0
Today, IKEA can announce that together with Tom Dixon the decision has been made to continue the DELAKTIG journey, this time by challenging thinking and conventions of the modern bed. Set to launch in 2019, DELAKTIG 2.0 brings Tom’s innovative approach to a bedframe that can be set up and personalised in different ways.
“Continuing the journey with DELAKTIG 2.0 is about developing products that respond to new ways living, together or alone, but side by side, driven by urbanity, new technology and changing values.
“We understand the complex everyday situations where household constellations, activities and needs change on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. That’s why homes, and products, have to change with the people living there. Through DELAKTIG and soon DELAKTIG 2.0, we are challenging traditional ideas and looking to create news ways to share different ways to liberate us from strict norms about lifestyle and how we live at home.”
For more information visit
www.ikea.com
by Arrnott Olssen
Editor Rogue Homme
