Header: IKEA
It has been over thirty years since IKEA first stormed Milan with its PS collection, launching the bold idea of Democratic Design. Now, the tenth edition is surfacing, and it is every bit as rebellious as the original.
“PS is about embracing simplicity and finding the excitement in that – objects with a clear function, elevated by expressive details that are a little mischievous, inviting you to touch, discover and play.”
Maria O’Brian, Creative Leader at IKEA of Sweden
The air-filled obsession finally decoded
Since the nineties, IKEA has been obsessed with making air-filled furniture work. For a long time, it simply didn’t. Most of the team had given up on the dream, but designer Mikael Axelsson wouldn’t let it go. He spent his time hand-welding twenty different prototypes, even experimenting with tractor tyres, to see if air could actually feel as good as foam.
The breakthrough for the PS 2026 easy chair came by using two separate adjustable air chambers tucked inside a tubular chrome frame. This setup gives the chair a steady, slim look while remaining incredibly tough. It arrives in a box with a foot pump and a deep emerald green fabric cover, proving that a chair made of air can actually handle the wear and tear of real life.
Geometry that changes the room
Rotterdam-based designer Lex Pott took a simple steel cylinder, cut it at a 45-degree angle, and started spinning the pieces. The result is a floor lamp where the shape does all the work. By rotating the sections, you can flick between a spotlight, a reading light, or an uplight. It comes in punchy colours like chartreuse yellow and cobalt blue, featuring a trumpet-shaped shade that looks different from every angle.
“When you rotate the lamp it doesn’t just change the light, but the atmosphere of the space. We reduced the design to its clearest possible form, and the function doesn’t reveal itself at first glance – but that’s where the joy and playfulness live. There are layers that reveal themselves slowly, and an emotional bond that grows the more you live with it.”
Designer Lex Pott
It is an object that asks you to fiddle with it to find the mood you want.
A bench that won’t sit still
Then there is the rocking bench by Marta Krupińska. It is made of solid pine, keeping those classic Scandinavian roots, but it has a sense of humour. While it looks like a standard bench, the curved runners underneath mean it is constantly inviting you to sway.
“From the first prototype, I noticed people couldn’t help themselves,” says Marta Krupińska. “They’d sit down, start rocking, then call someone over to try it. Furniture shouldn’t take itself too seriously. That instinctive childlike impulse to just play is something we rarely express as adults, but it’s so important to have objects that invite that side to come out.”
Designer Marta Krupińska
A collection that lets you play
Usually, high-end design feels like something you aren’t allowed to touch, let alone jump on, but these furniture pieces let us play with them and somehow feel human. The coolest part is definitely the emerald green inflatable chair. Think about it: they spent thirty years failing at this, and they kept going because the idea of sitting on a bubble was just too fun to bin.
It doesn’t pretend to be “luxury” – it’s a chrome pipe and some air. The magic isn’t in fancy materials; it’s in the fact that someone spent weeks welding tractor tyres just to make sure you could have a comfy seat that fits in a tiny box. It makes the room feel alive rather than like a museum. That’s the kind of design we actually need in our houses – stuff that makes you want to show it off to your friends the second they walk through the door.
