De Stijl and IKEA

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Image result for de stijlImage result for ikea furniture
Nowadays, it’s difficult to go shopping anywhere without finding the effects of De Stijl, Bauhaus, or Swiss design marking furniture, clothing, and other household items for sale in such places as Walmart, Target, and, most famously, IKEA.
De Stijl was developed as a response to the growing need for the consumer to have some power over their environment, while still maintaining a strong grasp on material cost efficiency and ergonomics. Style, effectiveness, and keeping costs low has defined many of the goals of design throughout the 20th century, leading into the 21st. This focus has seen the development of materials to better suit this goal, and even a different method of assembly: IKEA furniture.
Affordable and available, IKEA furniture is shipped in pieces and usually must be assembled by the customer themselves. The instructions are always as simple as possible, and the designs are kept minimalist enough to avoid confusion in which pieces fit, slot or screw where. I admire the smooth slopes of most IKEA design, though also dislike the usual cheapness of the material as compared to a fully-built table, for instance.

Even so, De Stijl has influenced modern design in many ways, and in my opinion, it’s been a net positive.

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