Swedish furniture giant IKEA is taking over a warehouse in Milan's Lambrate district for a festival of design and live performances during Milan design week.
IKEA Festival – Let's Make Room for Life will present a programme of installations, talks, workshops and interactive acts in a 3,500-square-metre warehouse at Via Ventura 14 in Milan from 4 to 9 April.
Dezeen will be broadcasting video updates live from the festival each day, documenting the eclectic range of activities taking place on Dezeen as well as our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels.
The festival is intended as a celebration of IKEA's founding principle of democratic design and will be laid out around four main areas that reflect different aspects of the brand's philosophy.
The Soft Spot stage will be a calm space for hanging out and recharging, featuring morning yoga sessions and a daily programme of seminars with international design figures such as Tom Dixon and Mette and Rolf Hay.
Swedish synthesiser company Teenage Engineering will also be hosting collaborative digital workshops in the space.
The Rooms for Life stage will feature an interactive set made up of conceptual living rooms created by guest stylists.
It will include an installation by Faye Toogood called Enfant Terrible, featuring sculptures made from hacked IKEA flatpack furniture as well as interiors curated by editors from Open House magazine and the IKEA Livet Hemma blog.
The IKEA Today stage will offer a behind-the-scenes look at IKEA's product development and a chance for visitors to meet the designers, developers and engineers behind IKEA products.
A number of workshops and prototyping sessions will be taking place in the space, while students from Swiss design school ECAL will be demonstrating a painting robot.
Located outside of the warehouse, the fourth area is called IKEA Food and will feature a pop-up restaurant serving an Italian take on Swedish meatballs as well as drinks and fika – Swedish coffee and cake.
A host of other installations and acts will be taking place throughout the festival site, including live drawing sessions with artist Kevin Lyons.
IKEA will also present its latest collections, including a smart lighting system called Trådfri, its Ypperlig collaboration with Danish brand Hay and the Delaktig modular bed designed by Tom Dixon, which can be modified into different styles of furniture throughout its lifetime.
Look out for Dezeen's broadcast tower logo (above) at the festival, which will identify the Dezeen lounge where you can watch all the videos as we produce them throughout the week.
There is also still time to register for the Dezeen at IKEA Festival party on 5 April from 7pm to 10pm.
IKEA Festival – Let's Make Room For Life
4 to 9 April 2017, 10am-8pm
Via Ventura 14, Milan
The venue is a 15-minute walk from the Lambrate FS metro station. There will also be a free shuttle bus service from the Tortona district and Teatro Manzoni, where Tom Dixon will be showing Delaktig as part of his Multiplex exhibition.
More information can be found at IKEA.today/festival.