Parasite 2.0 designs furniture with salvaged materials from IKEA’s circular hub

Design and research studio Parasite 2.0 recently presented a collection of furniture products built out of materials obtained from IKEA’s circular hub. The collection, titled ‘Value Assessment’, was created as part of the IKEA Circular design project in collaboration with Andrea de Chirico, Matteo Guarnaccia and The Ladies Room and was showcased at BASE Milano in early December 2021.

Founded in the year 2010 by Stefano Colombo, Eugenio Cosentino and Luca Marullo, Parasite 2.0 is a design firm that concerns itself with the research and investigation of human habitats existing and functioning within a hybrid of architecture, design and scenography. Their designs are often created out of materials salvaged from derelict sites or discarded products, reflecting their environment-conscious approach.

The ‘Value Assessment’ collection is basically a set of several furniture items, the raw materials for which were obtained from the refurbished furniture that is made available at the Ikea Circular HUB. Some of the furniture pieces that form part of the collection are Value Assessment Chair, Value Assessment Lamp, Value Assessment Cabinet and Value Assessment Basket.

The Value Assessment Chair is made by replacing the rattan seat, armrests and backrest of IKEA’s GRÖNADAL rocking chair with roughly cut and unfinished marble sheets, giving it a rugged look. It also features two fluorescent orange plastic handles on the backrest, making the chair look like a whimsical statement piece. Made out of a combination of severely contrasting materials, it offers a view to peculiarly varied worlds through materials that have different levels of sophistication associated with them.

The lamp from the collection is an aberration of the SKURUP lamp. Balanced by a system of weights and chains, it functions as a suspension lamp that interestingly occupies the entire space it is placed in, both with its weight-and-chain system and with the light it emits around it.

The cabinet and the basket that comprise the collection remain largely unchanged from their original conditions. The Value Assessment Cabinet features subtle additions like the four spherical wooden feet at the bottom of the cabinet, fluorescent orange handles, a quote on its front side and a green siren on top of it.