Tom Dixon's New Furniture Collaboration With IKEA Warmly Welcomes Hacks

Tom Dixon's career path has been a series of creative evolutions. At its start, he dropped out of art school, played bass in a band that opened for the Clash, taught himself how to weld and set up a "creative think tank and storefront" in London in the mid 1980s, all while becoming known as "the talented untrained designer with a line in welded salvage furniture." 

Next came his iconic 'S Chair' design, which has since been included in permanent museum collections and is still being produced today. 

Now, the latest offering from the industrial design connoisseur is through a collaboration with IKEA called DELAKTIG, the Swedish word for 'involvement.' Serving as an open-source "platform for living," the products featured  have been designed so that consumers can embark on their own creative solutions for the everyday. 

The DELAKTIG starts as a single bed fashioned from a durable aluminum frame that can quickly be transformed into a cozy couch, armchair, or chaise. Consumers are encouraged to "do their own thing" with the furniture to make each piece work best for them and their needs. 

Additional products in the collaboration include a heavy-weight task lamp, a scalloped magazine rack and a side table.

During the design process for DELAKTIG, Dixon and IKEA drew inspiration from workshops conducted with students at illustrious art schools to see how the basic platform could be evolved. 

According to The New York Times, the students' resulting designs were diverse and included everything from a foosball table to a protective shelter in case of natural disaster.

The collection will officially hit stores across Europe in February, with the release in the USA coming later in the year. Prices for the furniture will start around $400, and pieces will be available in a wide range of colors, including light gray, dark gray, and dark blue.