Published 23 May 2017 • Inter IKEA newsroom
IKEA collaborates with designer Piet Hein Eek
IKEA has teamed up with Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek resulting in INDUSTRIELL, a mass produced collection celebrating uniqueness and intentional imperfections.
At IKEA we are curious to learn new things in order to create a better everyday life for the many people. By working with designers from different fields and backgrounds it allows an exchange of ideas and experiences, resulting in a wider range of products available to the many.
“Piet Hein Eek is known for his craftsmanship and furniture, usually found in the galleries. Together we wanted to create an unexpected, raw and natural collection with built-in craftsmanship,” says Karin Gustavsson, Creative Leader at IKEA of Sweden.
“When IKEA approached me, it turned out that we had been wanting to explore the same thing for ages – how to give objects individuality while still having an industrial production process. When you work together, you invest in, and learn from, each other,” says Piet Hein Eek.
The collection consists of mass produced furniture and a selection of home furnishing items that become unique by adding variations into the designs, patterns and colour using techniques such as algorithms. The intentional mistakes gives the objects their uniqueness. Material choices include wood, metal, glass, linen, ceramic, metal and paper loom.
“We wanted to create a collection for everyday living without compromising on affordability. By mass-producing and using technology to create intentional differentiations to the products, we can offer unique design to the many people” says Karin Gustavsson.
Piet Hein Eek is a Dutch-born designer with work spanning furniture and product design, architecture and fine art. An Academy for Industrial Design alumni, Piet has a strong focus on sustainability in the production process and utilizing materials. INDUSTRIELL will launch globally during spring 2018. More information about the collection and collaboration will be shared at Democratic Design Days in Älmhult, Sweden 7-8 June 2017.