IKEA is attempting to reclaim a piece of its history that many in the furniture industry would prefer to leave in the 1990s. At this year’s Milan Design Week, the Swedish retailer unveiled the PS 2026 Easy Chair, an inflatable seat that marks its first serious return to air-filled furniture since the collapse of its ill-fated \"a.i.r.\" range nearly thirty years ago. That previous venture was marred by technical failures—leaks, static electricity, and a lightness that made the pieces prone to drifting across rooms—but the new design suggests a more grounded approach.
Designed by Mikael Axelsson, the PS 2026 avoids the structural pitfalls of its predecessors by \"trapping\" a large inflatable pillow within a rigid metal frame. It is a hybrid of the ethereal and the industrial, using the frame to provide the stability and permanence that pure plastic lacks. Axelsson, who first developed the concept a decade ago, describes the use of air as a \"poetic\" choice, utilizing a resource that is both free and universally available to create volume without the traditional weight of foam or upholstery.
The path to production was defined by institutional hesitation. When Axelsson first presented a scale model in 2014, the memory of IKEA’s earlier inflatable disaster was still too fresh; he recalls colleagues being \"scared\" of the concept, leaving the project to sit on a shelf for years. Its eventual inclusion in the latest PS collection reflects a shifting appetite for experimental materials and a willingness to revisit failed categories through improved engineering. By anchoring the air in steel, IKEA is betting that this time, the concept will finally hold its shape.
With reporting from Dezeen.
Source · Dezeen