In a former Mercedes-Benz workshop that had remained untouched for over a decade, this year’s Vienna Design Week has discovered a truly remarkable setting. When IKEA invited me to collaborate for this year’s installation, it felt like a circle closing: my very first kitchen was from IKEA, and twelve years on it is still in my home, solid and steadfast. Like many of us, I grew up with this brand, which made the project not only personal, but emotional.
»I designed the kitchen as an architect, not as a housewife.« – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky
Together, we set out to honour Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Vienna’s first female architect, whose »Frankfurt Kitchen« of 1926 became the blueprint for the modern fitted kitchen. She also studied at my alma mater, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and was a feminist and activist whose thinking remains strikingly relevant. Visiting the archive of the Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Centre sharpened our understanding of her work beyond its familiar image.
Built entirely from IKEA elements available from October 2025, our kitchen follows her principles while reimagining them for the present. It is shaped by inclusion: open workspaces to roll under in wheelchairs, generous handles, and surfaces at different heights so different bodies can work comfortably side by side. The exhibition took place from 26. September to 5. October 2025. After Vienna Design Week, the installation was donated to Train of Hope Vienna, allowing it to continue its life where it is most needed.
- Category: Installation
- Completed: 2025
- Location: Vienna, Austria
Photographs by © Apollonia T. Bitzan. This project was published by Wallpaper*, Elle Decoration and The Thing Magazine.