Hacking IKEA: Reimagining the Readymade
3 ECTS | Seminar for Master Students

What if an existing product is only the starting point? In this hands-on Design Expedition you will explore IKEA as a giant library of materials, components, construction systems, and ready-made objects. Working in pairs and with a maximum budget of €50 per group, your task will be to select one or more IKEA products and transform them into a new object, piece of furniture, or spatial intervention. Rather than using the products for their intended purpose, you will investigate their hidden potential by dismantling, recombining, adapting, and reinterpreting their components. Inspired by ready-made design, creative hacking, and principles of upcycling, you will work directly through material experimentation and 1:1 prototyping, aiming for maximum transformation with minimum means. No additional primary materials may be purchased, encouraging you to work resourcefully with what is already available. As the result of the course, you will have to deliver (a) a functional 1:1 prototype of your newly developed product, and (b) a clear step-by-step upcycling guide that enables others to reproduce the transformation.

Dates
Kick-Off: Friday, 16.10.26, 14.00–17:00, 3328
Weekly classes: Fridays 13:00–17:00 (weekly until 27.11.26), 3328 
Final Presentation: Friday, 27.11.26, 13:00–17:00, 3328

Registration
CampusTUM