IKEA pairs designers with chefs to rethink domestic spaces for Milan design week
IKEA has unveiled an exhibition where designers and chefs team up to create a series of food-focused domestic spaces at Milan design week, as captured in this video produced by Dezeen.
Named Food for Thought, the exhibition explores how cooking and eating rituals shape the design of everyday environments.
IKEA's Food for Thought exhibition features interiors based on different recipes
The exhibition takes place at Spazio Maiocchi in Milan's Porta Venezia district and features five room sets, each based on a different recipe, that reinterpret domestic spaces through spatial design and culinary experience.
Each room was developed by a creative duo consisting of an interior designer and food designer, who were tasked with translating a specific recipe into a domestic setting.
The spaces are activated daily through live cooking demonstrations led by the designer-chef duos, turning each interior into a functioning setting rather than a static display.
The overall spatial concept was developed with long-term collaborators architect Midori Hasuike and spatial designer Emerzon, who created a cohesive environment across the different elements of the venue.
Interior designer Maye Ruiz and chef Rosio Sanchez created the living room installation based on their shared Mexican heritage and culinary traditions shaped by communal cooking and gathering.
It features cosy, enveloping seating and floor-level arrangements, allowing food to be shared across sofas and at ground level, with integrated surfaces replacing the traditional dining table to enable relaxed, informal dining.
In contrast, architect Charlotte Taylor and chef Ben Lippett created a bedroom that reimagines eating in bed as an everyday ritual rather than an occasional indulgence.
The cocoon-like interior, which was designed to evoke the comfort of hotel room service, features integrated ledges and moveable furniture to ease the shift between resting and dining throughout the day.
In the kitchen, the focus shifts to play, tactility and learning, with a layout designed to accommodate both adults and children cooking together.
Designer Lydia Chan and pasta maker Alessandra Lauria created a kitchen where stools, worktops and surfaces are scaled at different heights for both adults and children, allowing them to occupy the same space comfortably.
The IKEA Mammut stools were repurposed as workstations, while writable walls and brightly coloured ingredients such as pasta and dough reinforce the idea of cooking as a creative, hands-on process for families.
The dining room explores the social choreography of shared meals through a deliberately informal layout that encourages guests to gather and linger, with food acting as a catalyst for interaction.
Created by Mehek Malhotra and Maurizio Tentella, the space layers mismatched chairs, textiles and tableware to evoke a more "lived-in" setting.
A studio living space developed by Oliver Lyttelton and Tina Choi completes the series, positioning solo dining as an intentional experience rather than a passive one.
The room uses lighting, material contrast and carefully positioned furniture to frame eating alone as a deliberate, sensory ritual to encourage moments of pause and reflection.
The exhibition extends beyond the interiors into a wider venue with a courtyard market inspired by Swedish food halls, alongside a cafe framed by IKEA's Billy bookcase and a food kiosk offering customised food.
Alongside the installation, IKEA is presenting three new products from the 10th edition of its IKEA PS collection.
These include a metal floor lamp by Lex Pott, made from a cylindrical tube cut at an angle to create a clean diagonal joint that allows the top section to rotate and direct the light.
The launch also includes a rocking bench by designer Marta Krupińska, featuring exaggerated curved runners that allow the entire seat to gently rock.
The third piece is an easy chair by Mikael Axelsson, with inflated cylindrical cushions forming a soft, oversized seat with a balloon-like lightness that makes it easier to move than a conventional upholstered chair.
According to IKEA, Food for Thought reflects a growing tendency at Milan design week towards hybrid formats that position design as something to be experienced through interaction rather than observation.
Food for Thought is on show at Spazio Maiocchi in Milan from 21 to 26 April 2026. See our Milan design week 2026 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.
Partnership content
This video was produced for IKEA as part of a partnership. Find out more about our partnership content here.
The post IKEA pairs designers with chefs to rethink domestic spaces for Milan design week appeared first on Dezeen.
