IKEA vs. Renaudie

“The independent republic of our home”

Youth, health, and happiness can be bought – this is the idea that IKEA is selling us. If we furnish our homes in a certain way, these spaces become a realm of comfort and familiarity. We can escape the realities of the outside world when within the confines of our living room. Our home should be a “sunny, happy, apolitical space”. IKEA Disobedients is a counter-notion to this ideal. A home should be messy – in both a physical and social sense. It should be easy to inhabit, and beautiful in its mediocrity. Our home should facilitate interaction and conversation – not perfection. A home should be an extension of the real world.

Les Etoiles, the experimental social housing project by Jean Renaudie, chooses to celebrate this messiness. The design embodies urban density and all that comes with it. Les Etoiles pushes the limits between private and public areas – adding to the design’s complexity and encouraging interaction. In stark comparison to an IKEA catalogue, Les Etoiles encourages the chaos of real life. The design is lived-in, and easy to occupy. It is not forced, or a façade of what habitation should look like.