IKEA Museum
presents

Booming stock markets, shoulder pads and postmodern design. The 1980s were about equal parts decadence and optimism. For IKEA it was a challenging decade, with both expansion and a quest for an identity. Could steel wire furniture be part of the answer?

Revolution year 1968 brought the winds of change. Design and fashion reflected the times with bright colours, optimistic space shapes and modern materials. IKEA kept up too, launching the POP 68 collection in the same year – trendy, colourful furniture made from rational particle boards. Perfect for a young generation with a taste for anything new. The POP 68 collection was followed by several collections aimed at trend-conscious young consumers. Even if the copywriting in the catalogues is somewhat dated, the colourful furniture itself feels just as hip and relevant today.

After more than 30 years in the IKEA range, it’s one of the most used bags in the world. It’s big and strong, and pretty much anything will fit inside, whether you’re shopping, moving, doing the laundry or going to the beach. An iconic tote bag that has also inspired new creations by everyone from keen DIYers to luxury fashion designers.

IKEA is, at its core, collaborative. Be it suppliers or consumers, everyone is invited to join in. Collaboration happens when customers assemble furniture at home, and when creatives like Virgil Abloh and Olafur Eliason develop new products together with IKEA. This film takes a deep dive into the creative process of collaboration, and how IKEA strives to find the right people to seek out the right solutions to everyday challenges.

What is Democratic Design? Is it a road map for product developers, or a communicative tool that brings great ideas to the many people? In true IKEA style, it is of course both. Here, we explore the roots and application of the Democratic Design principle and its five pillars.

Ideas for IKEA products are always inspired by needs and dreams in people’s lives at home. In this film, two generations of IKEA people tell the story of working towards fulfilling those aspirations. It’s about finding the best and most cost-effective solution, guided by all the different dimensions of Democratic Design – form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price.

Is there such a thing as furniture that will never come back, despite our nostalgic love of retro? Furniture that we simply couldn’t do without in the past, but has now long been forgotten? What’s a telephone table? How do you use a chamber pot cabinet, and who’s supposed to sit on a sewing pouffe?

In the early 1990s, IKEA wanted to breathe new life into the Swedish furniture legacy from the 1700s. The point of departure was the Gustavian style – an evolution of French Neoclassicism; simple everyday furniture with beautiful lines and sculpted details. It was a design ethos that would stand the test of time and shifting trends, right up to the current era.

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Following some intensive years of expansion in the 1970s, IKEA suffered serious growing pains. Many new stores had opened in Europe, and the workforce was increasing dramatically. Meanwhile, the organisation itself had barely developed since the 1960s. Communication was slow, and costs rose while quality fell. The oil crisis was just the last straw. A serious concerted effort was now needed, before it was too late.

In the mid-1990s, Swedish furniture designer Jan Dranger came to IKEA with a revolutionary suggestion. He thought he had the solution to one of Ingvar Kamprad’s biggest challenges: how to pack sofas and easy chairs into flat packs.

In the 1980s, designer Gillis Lundgren came up with an ingenious idea that would save space and costs when transporting cushions. Working with chemists, IKEA would develop a new type of expanding insulation material that could quickly grow to 35 times its original size. This would enable customers to fill everything from scatter cushions to sofa cushions with soft padding.

Swedish manufacturers did not have the capacity to meet Ingvar Kamprad’s demand. And a lot of the Swedish suppliers were also boycotting IKEA. So Ingvar decided to look for suppliers beyond Sweden. He had already begun working with Danish designers and manufacturers, but now it was time to turn towards Poland.

At the end of the 1950s, the IKEA catalogues looked completely different to the later editions, with their styled homes and well-planned rooms. In fact, if we’re honest, the photos in the early catalogues were pretty threadbare. A sofa, a rug and a lamp, pulled together into a little group, sometimes by Ingvar Kamprad himself. All that was soon to change when a certain Brita Lang made an entrance at IKEA.

Before 1989, production behind the Iron Curtain was a cornerstone of the long-term purchasing strategy at IKEA. Ingvar Kamprad came here back in the 1960s when he was boycotted by furniture makers and the sector as a whole in Sweden. Planned economies like Poland had raw materials at low prices, as well as state-owned factories with great capacity and a need to do business with the West, as eastern currencies could not be used in the West or exchanged for dollars. IKEA made major investments in run-down factories, installed machinery and spare parts, and built up skills. So what happened when the Iron Curtain suddenly fell?

How did a self-described failure from Småland become one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs? In excerpts from our new Ingvar Kamprad exhibition, close co-workers share stories about his drive, curiosity, creativity, and the ability to see problems as opportunities. In the exhibition Hej Ingvar! at IKEA Museum, you can view and listen to many more stories.

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Booming stock markets, shoulder pads and postmodern design. The 1980s were about equal parts decadence and optimism. For IKEA it was a challenging decade, with both expansion and a quest for an identity. Could steel wire furniture be part of the answer?

IKEA has always tried to find new, smarter ways of packing and distributing furniture. At the end of the 1970s, IKEA took inspiration from car seating in its attempts to pack sofas and armchairs into flat packs.

In the mid-1990s, Swedish furniture designer Jan Dranger came to IKEA with a revolutionary suggestion. He thought he had the solution to one of Ingvar Kamprad’s biggest challenges: how to pack sofas and easy chairs into flat packs.

Is it possible to dye trees while they’re growing? IKEA veteran Jan Ahlsén asked this question and tried to find the answer in the 1990s. Helping him were an inventor in Sweden and a Swedish forester in Laos. Here, we tell the whole fascinating story.

In the 1980s, designer Gillis Lundgren came up with an ingenious idea that would save space and costs when transporting cushions. Working with chemists, IKEA would develop a new type of expanding insulation material that could quickly grow to 35 times its original size. This would enable customers to fill everything from scatter cushions to sofa cushions with soft padding.

Ideas for IKEA products are always inspired by needs and dreams in people’s lives at home. In this film, two generations of IKEA people tell the story of working towards fulfilling those aspirations. It’s about finding the best and most cost-effective solution, guided by all the different dimensions of Democratic Design – form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price.

How many brilliant ideas can you get thinking about hot dogs? Quite a lot as it turns out. In the mid-1990s, IKEA realised that the hot dog was a great symbol for good quality at a low price. That may be a lot to expect from a humble sausage, but it became an important piece of the puzzle in thinking freely and innovatively when it came to product development. But let’s start at the beginning, when a hot dog was just a simple hot dog.

Following some intensive years of expansion in the 1970s, IKEA suffered serious growing pains. Many new stores had opened in Europe, and the workforce was increasing dramatically. Meanwhile, the organisation itself had barely developed since the 1960s. Communication was slow, and costs rose while quality fell. The oil crisis was just the last straw. A serious concerted effort was now needed, before it was too late.

IKEA has always tried to find new, smarter ways of packing and distributing furniture. At the end of the 1970s, IKEA took inspiration from car seating in its attempts to pack sofas and armchairs into flat packs.

In the late 1980s the green movement was really taking off, and more and more people were composting their waste at home in the garden. But hardly anyone had ever tried composting indoors – and IKEA wanted to change that.

In the mid-1990s, IKEA was rocked by accusations of child labour. At the time the company was the world’s largest furniture retailer, with almost 100 stores in 17 countries, and production in 70. As success for IKEA increased, so too did the media’s scrutiny. Revelations of child labour would lead to a new compass – cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children, and codes of conduct on everything from child labour to environmental impact.

In the mid-1990s, Swedish furniture designer Jan Dranger came to IKEA with a revolutionary suggestion. He thought he had the solution to one of Ingvar Kamprad’s biggest challenges: how to pack sofas and easy chairs into flat packs.

Is it possible to dye trees while they’re growing? IKEA veteran Jan Ahlsén asked this question and tried to find the answer in the 1990s. Helping him were an inventor in Sweden and a Swedish forester in Laos. Here, we tell the whole fascinating story.

In the 1980s, designer Gillis Lundgren came up with an ingenious idea that would save space and costs when transporting cushions. Working with chemists, IKEA would develop a new type of expanding insulation material that could quickly grow to 35 times its original size. This would enable customers to fill everything from scatter cushions to sofa cushions with soft padding.

Before 1989, production behind the Iron Curtain was a cornerstone of the long-term purchasing strategy at IKEA. Ingvar Kamprad came here back in the 1960s when he was boycotted by furniture makers and the sector as a whole in Sweden. Planned economies like Poland had raw materials at low prices, as well as state-owned factories with great capacity and a need to do business with the West, as eastern currencies could not be used in the West or exchanged for dollars. IKEA made major investments in run-down factories, installed machinery and spare parts, and built up skills. So what happened when the Iron Curtain suddenly fell?

In the mid-1990s, IKEA was rocked by accusations of child labour. At the time the company was the world’s largest furniture retailer, with almost 100 stores in 17 countries, and production in 70. As success for IKEA increased, so too did the media’s scrutiny. Revelations of child labour would lead to a new compass – cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children, and codes of conduct on everything from child labour to environmental impact.

On how IKEA, as a large actor in the timber industry, strives for responsible forest management in joint efforts with WWF and others, for people and the planet.

Involvement in philanthropic causes at IKEA can be traced back to the 1950s, when Ingvar Kamprad’s mother Berta fell ill with cancer, and Ingvar started a fund for cancer research. Later on, more funds and foundations were set up for everything from good design and children’s rights, to the climate and well-being for the elderly. What all these things have in common is a vision to create a better everyday life for the many people.

When Catti Bengtsson’s phone rang one afternoon in May 1997, she had no reason to be concerned. For just over three years, she and her colleagues had worked hard and extremely carefully to create Children’s IKEA, a brand new department with everything from soft rocking-bananas to toys and bed sheets. But that phone call changed everything.

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

In the late 1980s the green movement was really taking off, and more and more people were composting their waste at home in the garden. But hardly anyone had ever tried composting indoors – and IKEA wanted to change that.

It was not entirely unexpected, but a lot of people were still shocked when it happened. The IKEA catalogue would be no more! IKEA had been discussing whether or not to continue with the printed catalogue for several years, but it took a long while to make the decision to discontinue it. The catalogue was a strong part of the IKEA identity, and was much loved by many people.

What is Democratic Design? Is it a road map for product developers, or a communicative tool that brings great ideas to the many people? In true IKEA style, it is of course both. Here, we explore the roots and application of the Democratic Design principle and its five pillars.

On how IKEA, as a large actor in the timber industry, strives for responsible forest management in joint efforts with WWF and others, for people and the planet.

The story of IKEA is the story of wooden materials. And the story of wood is also a story about gaining the advantage. Find out how IKEA went from traditional hardwood furniture, to utilising everything from pine to bamboo and recycled wood. Always in close collaboration with suppliers and designers, in order to make the most from the least.

Textile, after wood, is the most extensively used material at IKEA through the ages. It appears in everything from bed linen to curtains, and increasingly incorporates smart functions like dampening sound or absorbing heat. It’s impossible to imagine a world without textiles. And that’s why, for a long time, there has been intensive development of innovative production techniques with less impact on the Earth’s resources, while also making the most of textile’s potential beyond its soft, cosy and aesthetic qualities.

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

When IKEA describes its culture, the terms together and togetherness are virtually always front and centre. And it’s not just co-workers who are invited to be part of that togetherness, but also very much customers and suppliers. In fact, you could say that without togetherness, there would be no IKEA.

After more than 30 years in the IKEA range, it’s one of the most used bags in the world. It’s big and strong, and pretty much anything will fit inside, whether you’re shopping, moving, doing the laundry or going to the beach. An iconic tote bag that has also inspired new creations by everyone from keen DIYers to luxury fashion designers.

Explore two stories about Children’s IKEA. Children and families with children have always been central to IKEA. But it was in the 1990s that things really took off. Find out about the early beginnings, how it works today, and what IKEA puts into making a range for the most important people in the world.

Things get wild when a group of children are let loose in the Museum and discover IKEA history. We ask them to tell the history of IKEA from the Ice Age to the day after tomorrow. Did IKEA really start in the 1700s? Does Ingmar, age four, actually have a sofa at home or not, and how many stuffed animals can fit in a room?

Discover how designers Charlotte Rude and Hjördis Olsson-Une invented the first ball pit for IKEA Kungens Kurva in 1971, the pride of the children's area.

How did a self-described failure from Småland become one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs? In excerpts from our new Ingvar Kamprad exhibition, close co-workers share stories about his drive, curiosity, creativity, and the ability to see problems as opportunities. In the exhibition Hej Ingvar! at IKEA Museum, you can view and listen to many more stories.

See how a bet between Lennart Ekmark and Ingvar Kamprad led to large-scale home visits becoming a way for IKEA to understand life at home around the world.