It’s been a couple of years that IKEA has been exploring the use of 3D printing to launch new collections of products or improve existing ones. While the Swedish conglomerate is acknowledged for the sale of ready-to-assemble furniture, its users also know that it is not that easy to assemble the company’s products. Sometimes, it is even difficult to use them in a very convenient way.
This need to enhance IKEA’s products has taken the design world by storm, and has led to UPPGRADERA, an IKEA-hacking brand that aims to provide open-source 3D-printable accessories. The word is well chosen as “Uppgradera” comes from Swedish and means “to replace an existing object with something better.”
The third collection of Uppgradera recently unveiled, is the result of the collaboration between German additive manufacturing studio Enable 3D and designer Adam Miklosi. The collection includes five novel products that could be 3D printed and that are already available for free download.
“This is our second artist collection and we are super excited to see how the huge IKEA hacker community will respond to the designs. What we see here is the future of consumption where consumers play an active part in the creation of the final product,” says Enable 3D founder Manuel Siskowski. “IKEA’s approach for self-assembly has disrupted the furniture market. Maybe it is now their very own customers who start a second wave of disruption.”
Enable 3D defines itself as the digital layer to brands’ physical products. In collaboration with brands, they apply additive manufacturing to enable circular economy. This approach aligns with a co-production philosophy, where consumers actively contribute to production.
For this third collection, the founder was inspired by IKEA products he personally utilized – from cheese graters to clothing racks. Miklosi‘s concepts ambition to improve the initial designs and rectify any shortcomings he has encountered – using always 3D printing as key manufacturing process.
His hacks address individuals facing analogous issues and give the user the possibility to produce or fabricate the new products within their local vicinity, regardless of their geographical location. The new collection can be found on Enable 3D’s website.
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