IKEA opens the doors to the exhibition, 1st, at Milan Design Week 2024

Today IKEA marked the opening of 1st, an exhibition exploring the emotional side of making your monumental move to your first home. Padiglione Visconti, the 1244-square metre venue where over seventy-seven thousand joined the IKEA exhibition during Milan Design Week 2023, has been transformed into an IKEA playground. Expertly designed by long-time IKEA collaborators; architect Midori Hasuike and spatial designer Emerzon, alongside renowned lighting designer Anders Heberling, the exhibition aims to spotlight the often contrasting, but frequently similar ways we deal with moving out on our own for the first time. 

The packed agenda of the events for the week was revealed by Belén Frau, Global Communication Manager at Ingka Group, and Asunta Enrile, Country Retail Manager at IKEA Italy, with programming covering from morning until night. Mark Wilson, Global Design Editor from Fast Company will be hosting a series of talks at the IKEA venue on Tuesday, 16th and Wednesday 17th, featuring speakers from Google, Mattel, What Design Can Do, and Marrimekko, Neri&Hu. Covering “What’s next for IKEA?” with Ingka Group CEO, Jesper Brodin, “Does Good Design Exist?” with speakers from Google, Mattel, and Neri/Hu; “How Design Will Heal Us” with speakers from RISD, FuseProject and Samsung; and “Can we make sustainability for the 99%?” with speakers from IKEA, What Design Can Do, and Marimekko. All talks are open to the public, for the full agenda please see here. 

As one of the highlights of Milan Design Week 2024, IKEA unveiled the new gaming collection BRÄNBOLL as well as the latest Nytillverkad launch and a sneak peek of Tyg, an upcoming collection of pre-cut fabrics which we will offer exclusive as pre-sale on site.     

The BRÄNNBOLL collection is inspired by the evolving and diverse needs of gamers and those who live with them. The fifth drop of the Nytillverkad collection features the reimagined KLIPPAN sofa and the POÄNG armchair, two of our most iconic and beloved designs from IKEA designer Noboru Nakamura. Embracing a strong Scandinavian design identity, both collections boost a vibrant color palette that speaks of optimism and is designed to enhance daily lives.  

“We’re excited to present the results of our exploration into new areas of the home, which are driven by the rising interest in our treasure chest of designs from our past, as well as the dynamic world of gaming. As always, we are driven by our curiosity about people’s lives, needs and dreams at home, and we capture what matters in our designs. We aim to create new solutions that resonate with the values we as a brand share with many people and respond to the needs of the ever-evolving lives at home,” says Johan Ejdemo, Global Design Manager at IKEA of Sweden. 

Also present was Jefferson Hack, founder and CEO of Dazed magazine, who joined Ingka Group Creative Director, Marcus Engman, to talk about Catalogue!!!, the joint venture that Dazed Studio and IKEA worked on together exclusively for 1st. The result, only available at Padiglione Visconti, is a 30 page physical poster zine exploring how young people around the world live today. Dazed Studio delved into the IKEA archives, becoming inspired by the editorial imagery from the early 2000s, speaking to a global audience, uncovering the ways young people are finding to flourish in their home environments, working collaboratively with photographers and artists featured throughout, including Imruh Asha, Daisuke, Andrew Miksys, Angèle Ch Tenet, Erika Kamano, Anton Gottlob and Taito Itateyama. 

CATALOGUE!!! features four covers, exclusive pull out posters and editorials including acclaimed food writer Riaz Philips exploring the relationship between food and the home; young creatives from London and New York, who met over Zoom to reflect on the pursuit of identity within the ever-evolving definition of home; six creatives from around the world sharing the special objects in their home that have particular sentiment, exploring the idea of home through the objects we chose to live with and Dazed’s Fashion Director Imruh Asha creating his otherworldly sculptures using items he selected from a trip to IKEA. 

During the morning press event Marcus Engman, showed a preview of IKEA Live Studio, a new in-store experience that will be piloted at the IKEA Oxford Street Store. The 25m² space is a hub for crafting fast-paced content with local London content creators, right before your eyes. With Live Studio, IKEA aims to produce dynamic content at lightning speed that resonates with local and global audiences. Visitors to the Oxford Street store will also see the content displayed on the store’s windows.  

As always at Milan Design Week, the IKEA venue will offer not only design inspiration but also food, refreshments, and entertainment. The restaurant will serve a range of affordable food and drink, including Hotdog Extravaganza, a selection of IKEA hotdogs designed exclusively in the theme of the event. 

At night, the venue transforms into a destination for music lovers across the board, from HipHop to Disco, and Funk to Techno, and much more. In continuing with the IKEA presence at recent Milan Design Weeks, the music programme will be sure to delight. IKEA has paired up with Italian music crews including Burro Studio, Akeem, Ciao Discoteca Italiana, Threes Production and Slipmode to spotlight artists from the rich local music scene.   

Young creators and collaborators will take part in 1st throughout the week. Students from Istituto Marangoni Milano – The School of Design, have paired up with IKEA for Milan Design Week. They worked with mentors and IKEA to design creative responses to the question, “How do you imagine your first home?”. Visitors to the venue will see the students present their work on Wednesday, 17 April. Creators from Japan and Italy will also bring their interpretation of 1st to the stage, including Japanese breakdancer, Soraki, and Italian music artists Chiamamifaro and Rea, the latter of whom is soon to release her first album, inspired by firsts in her life. 

For the full programme click here.  

Architect: Midori Hasuike 
Spatial Designer: Emerzon 
Lighting Designer: Anders Heberling  

About Ingka Group

With IKEA retail operations on 31 markets, Ingka Group is the largest IKEA retailer and represents about 90% of IKEA retail sales. It is a strategic partner to develop and innovate the IKEA business and help define common IKEA strategies. Ingka Group owns and operates IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. It has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Read more on www.Ingka.com.