'surrealistika'
all images © of IKEA and barbican


swedish furniture brand IKEA brings a kitchen sculpture created with their home furnishing
products to the barbican centre in london. entitled 'surrealistika', the installation incorporates
the beauty of the silver birch tree intertwined with elements of an everyday kitchen. the piece
is meant to depict a surreal vision of the future, when environmental concerns will be even
more prominent at the core of kitchen design.





the silver birch tree was chosen because it has always been an influential source for
swedish designers and artists, including carl larsson who famously painted
'breakfast under the big birch'. it is also a wood which is believed to have mystical
qualities of its own, protecting people against evil spirits as well as symbolizing
love and fertility.



top view

'surrealistika' was born out of our belief that without creative thinking, there would be
no inspirational design. creativity sits at the core of our approach to product design
as everyday, we must challenge ourselves to come up with even better ideas that suit
our production capabilities as well as our customers' needs, tastes and budgets.
and never at the expense of good quality, inspirational design and the environment.
we chose to depict a kitchen as not only a place where we spend nearly a month of our
time every year, it's where we can make a big difference in terms of the impact our
lifestyles at home have on the environment.(...) through 'surrealistika' we want to
encourage people to think about the sustainable way of life, especially when it comes
to recycling their household waste and saving water and energy.'
- anna crona, marketing director for IKEA UK & ireland

up close look of the appliances up in the tree


'surrealistika' is part of the barbican centre's 'surreal house exhibition' and is set to
unveil august 12th, 2010 at which time, IKEA will host a debate discussing the
future of kitchens.



general view



lit by night