Spazio Maiocchi Hosts Food For Thought Install
As Milan Design Week opens, IKEA presents “Food For Thought” at Spazio Maiocchi, Via Achille Maiocchi 7. The exhibition features the world premiere of three products from the new IKEA PS 2026 collection, while exploring how food and design shape everyday life through a sensory experience of taste, ideas, and co-creation. Returning to Milan after 31 years, the iconic IKEA PS collection debuts with an exclusive preview of its 10th edition according to a press release.
Highlights include an inflatable easy chair, a solid pine rocking bench, and a three-directional floor lamp. Three distinct installations showcase the collection’s “playful functionality,” with designs that are both practical and joy-inducing through expressive, unexpected details. The exhibition was co-created with architect Midori Hasuike and spatial designer Emerzon. It celebrates IKEA’s continuous exploration of life at home: how it evolves across cultures and generations, and how design can respond with optimism and relevance for the many. “IKEA PS 2026 is about pushing Scandinavian design forward through playful, expressive simplicity—always grounded in one ambition: to make bold and forward-thinking design accessible to the many,” says Maria O’Brian, Creative Leader at IKEA of Sweden.
The themes of play and food are woven throughout the exhibition. Five visionary interior designers and five celebrated chefs worked in creative pairs to develop five scenarios where each duo designed a room and a menu together. These interior and food designers explore how food shapes spaces and how spaces influence the experience of food. From preparation to sharing, each installation delves into how cooking and eating connect people emotionally and socially, turning everyday moments into design-driven narratives. During the week, a working kitchen presents daily tastings created by the designer–chef collaborations, where food becomes both performance and participation.
The courtyard transforms into a Swedish saluhall-inspired market, offering local Italian products from vendors, animated by IKEA textiles and collaborations with Coldiretti, which will create a real Campagna Amica farmers’ market featuring local products brought directly by producers. PRISM, an Italian benefit company specializing in upcycling, repair, and socially inclusive textile production, will sell products made from IKEA textiles. The visit concludes at the BILLY café, a reflective, library-inspired space framed by the iconic BILLY bookcase. The setting invites visitors to slow down through a curated selection of 1,000 cookbooks by Phaidon, offering a pause within the intensity of Design Week.
“At IKEA, being stubbornly optimistic means showing that there are countless ways to create a more playful and meaningful life at home, a mission that feels more important today than ever before”, says Patrik Gustafsson, Global Home Furnishing and Retail Design Manager. Alongside the programme, the exhibition highlights initiatives focused on more sustainable everyday living. IKEA has partnered with Too Good To Go since 2018 and in 15 countries. Visitors can reduce food waste by saving Surprise Bags filled with unsold food at the end of each day. The experience also includes Etrash, an Italian startup developing AI-powered smart bins that support improved waste sorting. Beyond the main venue, IKEA continues its partnership with Glitch Camp by Fondazione Francesco Morelli and IED for the third consecutive year, furnishing shared spaces for design students and hosting communal dinners. For exhibition details visit IKEA at Milan Design Week 2026. Explore more on experiential retail and exhibition design.
