Now, I can’t really say we saw this one coming… but just bear with me. Teenage Engineering, known for their absolutely crisp synths (namely the OP-1 and various Pocket Operators) are joining forces with IKEA for an upcoming collection, announced today at their annual Democratic Design Day event in Älmhult, Sweden.
The product line will be themed around millennials and space travel, whatever that entails. Namely, the results will take major influence from a research trip the design team are taking to a simulated Mars habitat in the barely hospitable, rocky mountains of Utah.
Teenage Engineering are shooting for the stars, teaming up with IKEA for a range of space travel themed products we can’t wait to see.
When the company learned that NASA and students from Sweden’s Lund University School of Industrial Design were working on what would be needed for a three-year space mission to Mars, IKEA requested to join the project.
The home furnishings giant wants to tap in to what scientists and engineers learn from spaceflight to Mars, and apply these discoveries to products and methods for everyday life at home. Marcus Engman, head of design at IKEA, said the company wants to find out what could make space travel “homey” and to identify the boundaries and restraints needed to work in that environment, and then port that knowledge into IKEA’s own product development and “use space knowledge for a better everyday life on Earth”. – Wired.
