IKEA Disobedient - the politics of everyday life

Flipping through an IKEA catalog, you'll see beautifully staged images of families sharing dinner, perfectly organized closets, and friends hanging out around build-it-yourself couches and coffee tables. These catalogs create idealized images of what domestic life should look, "independent republics" made of non-political comfort. But actually, private places are where most of our political decisions are made, practiced, and discussed completely out of public view. 

Andres Jaque's Piece IKEA Disobedients does two things, it underscores how ordinary objects can affect a person's lifestyle (or vice versa) and brings to light the political undertones of everyday tasks. By taking IKEA's highly designed furniture out of its perfectly curated apolitical context found in catalogs, we find that home is incredibly interesting and nuanced. It's a place where disagreements are expressed as well as words of love. Where you can argue with family members at Thanksgiving and also share heart felt memories. Home is also the place where we decide how outside politics and culture will affect our daily tasks, like recycling, who bears the responsibility of cooking dinner, and how our finances will be distributed.

To be honest, i’m not sure where the architect fits into this narrative, except that we design the places and the objects for these encounters and discussions to happen. 

"Through activities, conversations, and community-oriented practices disseminated from one’s own private space, the domestic can become a new form of democratic parliament in which the architect is but an orchestrator and collaborator."