IKEA makes urbanites see more green by changing the landscape of city interiors  

IKEA challenges the future of sustainable consumption and healthier eating. In a recent collaboration by the brand with UK based industrial designer Tom Dixon, IKEA will explore the many possibilities of urban farming—transforming the homes into new farm lands. This ambitious project aims to find affordable, suitable, and forward thinking solutions to grow plants and vegetables in unusual places.

Food is a crucial part of everyday life and IKEA wants to inspire and enable a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. If more greens were to be grown in the homes, it would have a positive impact on the planet with fewer transports, lower water usage, and less food waste. Together with Tom Dixon, the IKEA democratic design principles will be used to develop affordable, sustainable food farming and consumption within the homes and urban communities.

“For IKEA, this collaboration is about challenging the way society looks at growing in general and addressing that it’s both possible and rewarding to have a place to grow your own plants in the city. Food is key to humanity and design can support with better solutions. Because at the end of the day we need people to feel inspired to grow and harvest their own edibles within their homes and communities”, says James Futcher, creative leader at IKEA Range and Supply.

IKEA and Dixon will share the first ideas in May 2019, at the flower and landscape garden exhibition Chelsea Flower Show in the UK. The garden on display to the public, will consider the future of the environment and the importance of growing food locally. It will explore the contrast of the hyper-natural and hyper-tech to encourage an independent approach to growing.

“Gardening is unique in its universal appeal and its transformational power. Without plants and more planting, we are all in trouble! Although we are not traditional garden designers, we think we can demonstrate ways that anybody could make a small difference and broadcast not only the beauty but also the functional importance of horticulture through both traditional knowledge and the latest in growing innovation”, says Dixon.

Chelsea Flower Show is a first step in this collaboration for him and IKEA, where focus will be on building awareness of where food comes from and demonstrating the ways in which it can be introduced into the home. The next step is to make gardening and sustainability more accessible to the many people by developing a series of products on urban growing, which will be available globally at IKEA stores in 2021. 

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