Ikea has previewed an exciting collection inspired by NASA, designed to meet the needs of urban, small space living.
The RUMTID range, which is scheduled to launch in 2020, will be split into four smaller collections based on the concepts of Time, Small Space, Water and Air.
Ikea first announced plans for the range in 2017, and last year, a research team was sent to the NASA Mars Desert Research Station in Utah to explore the future needs of urban, small space living. This range is the result of this research and is inspired by the extremes that come with going into space.
The team also visited Tokyo where they stayed in capsule hotels and experienced urban small space living first hand, something which proved to be an ‘invaluable part of the development of the collection’.
‘We want to learn from extreme scenarios and connect them back to Earth, focusing on urbanisation and small space living,’ says Siri Skillgate, one of five designers involved in RUMTID. ‘In Tokyo, there’s a literal built-in thinking around small space living that allows for modularity and mobility. We felt really inspired by all of the interesting solutions in people’s homes and at the capsule hotels – particularly when it comes to storage.’
There are two exciting developments from the range. First is a lightweight material made of veneer rolled into hollow tubes, which is not only flexible and perfect for small space living, but also more sustainable as the production process leads to next to no waste.
‘By cutting the tubes into different lengths and clamping them together we can build just about anything, be it sofas, wardrobes, beds, or something else completely,’ says creative leader Michael Nikolic. ‘This is a high-tech, efficient way of using our natural resources.’
And from a product perspective, although little information has been released, there will also be a new take on 'air purifiers and functional textiles cleaning the air'. Ikea unveiled several designs during its annual Democratic Design Days, which also included a small indoor garden. See more prototypes below:
