IKEA - Atlanta Opening

So Ikea opened up here in Atlanta last week and I think I had my hopes up a tad too high on the store. The thing that bothered me most about Ikea was that all of their furniture was merely a poor reproduction of famous mid-century furniture by the greats like Eames, Alto, Saarinen, and La Corbusier. Now, it’s a common adage to say that good design borrows heavily from past successful design, but this was different. The design features were not being borrowed from, but copied; the difference in this case is huge.Decisions were not being made for function or aesthetic, but to look like a pre-existing piece of furniture.

Here are a few items taken from the Ikea catalog placed next to their historical predece:

Now I must admit that I will most likely own some Ikea furniture in the near future. However, given the proper monetary resources I would much rather own the original pieces. Though, despite any criticism I could ever mount against Ikea furniture, it is well designed (not the best but still good) and is priced well. Ikea is achieving what Target has tried to do and Wal-Mart is incapable of delivering: quality products both practically and visually at a reasonable price.