Readable: IKEA Design and Identity Through the Years

This book looks really swell! There are probably no one left in the world who hasn’t heard about IKEA with its affordable build-it-your-self-furniture concept. Ingvar Kamprad, the man behind IKEA was only seventeen when started his soon to be blooming enterprise in 1943. Ten years later he opened his first IKEA store in Sweden. Today there are over 200 stores worldwide and as much as I love IKEA I also think it’s too ubiquitous and consumer driven. People throw away their furniture to buy new every two years because it’s so inexpensive, not stopping for two minutes reflecting on the design and functionality.

The book is titled “IKEA Design och Identitet” and can be bought from Adlibris if you live in Sweden. Which is your favorite IKEA piece?

IKEA’s catalogs are like a photo book of the Swedish home. Here contemporary living is reflected from the 1970s brown corduroy couches and painted pine kitchen tables to todays modern design of the PS-collection of top international class. It’s retro, nostalgia, present and future vision, all at once. But what lies behind such a strong concept that allowed them furnish almost every Swedish home for decades?

About the author: Chris

Founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on Pan Am, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Lives life as an expat in Barcelona, Spain.

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http://midcenturyliving.blogspot.com/ Kimberly Lindbergs

This book looks great! I'm a huge fan of IKEA. My husband's family still has pieces they bought from IKEA in the 70s that held up well and look good. I wish the book was available in the US. Hopefully they'll publish something similar in the states.
http://www.ultraswank.net Chris

It's funny, walking into a IKEA in the US, Germany or anywhere is like being in one in Sweden. They look completely identical, it's a bit like stepping into the Twilight Zone.
http://telstarlounge.blogspot.com/ Lee

Ikea is a drug that once you're addicted to it, it's hard to break free.

Ultra Swank takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic and swank living of the 50s, 60s and the 70s. We mainly focus on the design, architecture and the lifestyle of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality of that era – but also on the music and movies that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is run by Chris, a Swede born in the wrong decade that currently resides in Barcelona. Read more

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