IKEA As an Elective? IKEA makes it way into the University of Oregon

Well, I think it's safe to say that me and my team have Love/Hate relationship with IKEA. One day we love them and the next we hate them. However, IKEA for the most part is very modern, affordable, and the designers are way ahead of other companies in both design and functionality. My biggest problem with them is that they use Tremand do install their kitchen cabinets, as well study their products for overall workmanship, quality, how it will function, and then they provide their opinion and rating along with suggestions of course. I was going to tell you why I have a problem with this, but it is a story in itself which I will post next. I am sure many of you will read the post and say " hey, that was my problem" or something similar. After reading the next post you will understand that IKEA is not totally to blame since they hire another company to ensure everything is A plus. Stay tuned and you might learn something.

The following article is a great article in which I took parts from Oregon Life newspaper to write the article. If you are interseted in being a writer for the blog or have a story you want to share just email me at www.ezfurnitureassembly.com and I am sure we would be happy to add you to our list of contributors or post your story. As I leave to do my daily business I want to wish all you lucky souls with the day off a Happy Holiday, in which I hope you enjoy and remember to do or say a nice thing for someone today, because no matter what many people say or believe Martin Luther King only wanted us to be as one and continue to do the next right thing for anyone no matter race, color, religion, or creed. With that said, go sweep your neighbors stoop ya bum!

At first blush, it sounds like the kind of product placement that earns the marketing team a week in the Caribbean.

IKEA, that global purveyor of all things furniture, is stepping into the classroom at the University of Oregon. Tables, chairs and beds made by the Swedish sensation will be held up as models for students in the architecture department, who will spend the next two months analyzing the stuff as a starting point for their own creations.

You can’t buy that kind of advertising.

But assistant professor Esther Hagenlocher said her new course is anything but a 10-week IKEA commercial.

“It’s a little difficult to explain, because I’ve never done it before myself,” Hagenlocher said. “The goal of the whole thing is that we talk about design in various ways.”

Students will study IKEA designs, attempt to replicate them and then spin off into making their own original pieces. Hagenlocher (sounding a bit commercial-ish) said IKEA was the best brand to study because “they bring contemporary design to everybody and they’re producing a lot of good things for reasonable prices.”

Mind you, this is not the first time that the lines between commerce and education have been blurred (see: the UO and a certain shoe company). Nor is anyone suggesting there’s anything untoward about a major university using a major retailer in the fulfillment of a student’s major.

Hagenlocher was clear. “It’s not bringing IKEA and the world of commerce into the classroom,” she said. “It’s more looking at IKEA as the company who is bringing design to everybody, and to look critically at their product.”

Whoops — did someone say “critically”?

There’s an old saying, “everybody loves a winner,” and it’s entirely undone by the critics among us. You hear them sound off — online and on street corners — about the ills of all the commercial success stories of our time (just Google “I hate Starbucks” or “I hate McDonald’s” or “I hate Google” or ...)

IKEA has 270 stores in 36 countries and a laundry list of accolades (“100 Best Companies to Work For,” “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” ...)

But it also has its critics. The Web is busy with naysayers nay-saying the names of IKEA items (“Lycksele” and “Bjursta,” for example) or the craftsmanship, or the stores’ meandering floor layouts (“There aren’t enough signs, arrows, guide dogs in the world to make IKEA easy to navigate,” one blogger wrote).

Hard to say how hard UO students will be on IKEA. Architecture student Jeff Hoge, 22, said IKEA is well respected in his crowd because it’s cheap — er, “inexpensive,” he corrected himself — and of good quality.

The IKEA name “has brought more publicity (to the program) than ever before,” Hoge said, and he’s excited about a change of pace from his main coursework in the design of mixed-use buildings.

Interior design “is such a different scale from designing a building,” Hoge said. “It’s so much more intimate and personal — it’s a complete breath of fresh air.”

Nor does the furniture giant appear worried about UO students picking apart the product. IKEA Portland store manager Ken Bodeen said he was happy to accommodate the university’s idea (and theycame to IKEA, not the other way around, he noted straightaway).

Bodeen made the trip to Eugene last week to lecture on the company philosophy — “It’s about creating a better everyday life for the many,” he said — then hosted a tour of the Portland store for the design students.

Bodeen said he hopes UO students will come away from the course with an appreciation for what it takes to design sensible, functional home furnishings.

“We’re very pleased to start this relationship with the University of Oregon,” Bodeen said. “It’s a win-win for both the university and IKEA.”

Indeed.

Michael Manucci

Contributing Editor

www.ezfurnitureassembly.com