Ikea explores the emotional side of moving home in powerful new show

The IKEA space is always a highlight of Milan Design Week, with the Swedish retailer transforming the city's Padiglione Visconti venue into all manner of design-forward interpretations of its products and history in recent years. And in 2024, the brand has leaned into the emotional experience of moving into your first home – both positive and negative.

Designed by IKEA collaborators Midori Hasuike, Emerzon and Anders Heberling, the exhibition includes an interactive maze, as well as a stylish new catalogue design that's exclusively available for attendees of the event. (For more creative inspiration for the home, check out a day in the life of interior designer Kirsty Vance.)

The maze, which greets visitors on entry, is designed to capture the exciting yet disorientating feelings that can accompany a first move. 

"The exhibition aims to spotlight the often contrasting, but frequently similar ways we deal with moving out on our own for the first time," Ikea shared in a press release. "As you navigate the maze, a multisensory story of 'firsts' is told. Anxiety. Surprises. Fun. And creativity."

Indeed, one of the most fun aspects of the exhibition involves a series of beds in various states of readiness atop a raised platform, with visitors invited to remove their shoes and give them a try.

"As always, we are driven by our curiosity about people's lives, needs and dreams at home, and we capture what matters in our designs. We aim to create new solutions that resonate with the values we as a brand share with many people and respond to the needs of the ever-evolving lives at home,” Johan Ejdemo, Global Design Manager at IKEA of Sweden, said.

Ikea's '1st' exhibition is free to visit from 15 to 21 April 2024 at Padiglione Visconti, Via Tortona 58. We'll be sharing more coverage from our visit to Milan Design Week over the coming days. In the meantime, for a highlight from last year's event, take a look at this stunning 3D puzzle revealed as part of the Lexus Design Award.