In the quiet town of Älmhult, Sweden, at the global headquarters of Ikea, designer Mikael Axelsson has spent a decade haunted by a miniature. The object—a dollhouse-sized assemblage of bent wire, hand-carved foam, and hot glue—represented a deceptively simple ambition: to transform the novelty of 1990s inflatable furniture into a sophisticated, modern staple. For years, the model sat on Axelsson’s shelf, a "white whale" of industrial design that remained grounded by technical limitations and corporate memory.
The hurdles were both tactile and historical. Early attempts at inflatable seating often felt less like furniture and more like exercise balls, lacking the structural integrity required for domestic life. Furthermore, Ikea’s leadership remained wary of the category following a high-profile failure of air-filled products in the late 1990s. To move forward, Axelsson had to solve the physics of the cushion while overcoming the institutional stigma of a past market flop.
The breakthrough arrived during an experimental design sprint in late 2023. Tasked with pushing the boundaries for the upcoming PS collection—Ikea’s recurring series of avant-garde, design-forward releases—Axelsson and a small cohort of designers were given two days to pitch radical concepts. By revisiting the inflatable chair within this high-pressure environment, Axelsson finally found the momentum to move the project from a desk ornament to a production-ready piece, slated for a May debut.
With reporting from Fast Company.
Source · Fast Company
