IKEA vs. Bauhaus

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the view of IKEA's inheritance of the Bauhaus movement in functional, minimalist design that is affordable by the masses. It explains that IKEA, however much it refers in advertising and promotion to the Bauhaus and Bauhaus ideals, is rather opposite, due to their sparse, attractive design, appealing to a fairly prosperous consumer market, their corporate agenda and the non-functionality of items in terms of limited durability, assembly design difficulties and cheap finishes.

From the Paper:

"IKEA vs. the Reform Ideals of the Bauhaus. Introduction The design purchased, now globally, from IKEA stores is popularly said to approximate Bauhaus furniture and philosophy of the early 20th century. This paper explores the degree to which this is so, finding an important difference in the overall concept of the Bauhaus and a pioneering design concept put into practical use, and the corporate agenda of IKEA, as it delivers sparsely designed, usually functional products whose clean lines appeal to many kinds of consumers. In the 21st century's hyper-consumerism that both drives and results from Globalization, the involvement of art and design in ordinary, strategic business activities is not new. (Darso & Dawids:2002)"

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