Much of today’s younger generations envision and in some cases recreate their work and social lives somewhere abroad. In recent years, mobile lifestyles and working abroad have become an increasingly tempting and popular choice among younger professionals. However, moving abroad sometimes carries with it mental and emotional fatigue, all in addition to an overarching feeling of loneliness. In collaboration with IKEA, Sweden-based designer Mehmet Mehmetalioglu is hoping to remedy that loneliness with FӦNSTÅ, an at-home interior wall accessory that aims to help foreign workers feel a little more at home.
Designed as a wall accessory, FӦNSTÅ can be hung anywhere in the house with open space to function as a coat rack, whiteboard, and memory board. With an integrated peg and socket grid, wooden pegs can be inserted onto FӦNSTÅ so that accessories like a set of house or car keys can be kept there, or for larger items like heavy coats or backpacks. In order to help foreign workers feel more at home in their country abroad, FӦNSTÅ grants access to their family members so they can send handwritten notes or photographs that appear on the whiteboard of FӦNSTÅ. Mehmetalioglu has researched that foreign workers feel loneliest upon entering their new home for the first time during the day. When placed in a heavily trafficked area like the entryway, FӦNSTÅ will be the first to greet foreign workers in their new home instead of the looming feeling of loneliness.
In collaboration with Swedish furniture brand IKEA, Mehmetalioglu created FӦNSTÅ with the hope that it will function as a piece of furniture that’s as cozy, familiar, and well-used as a piece of IKEA furniture. Working abroad can bring with it a feeling of exhaustion that’s the culmination of mental stress and general loneliness. With hopes of remedying that lonesome fatigue, FӦNSTÅ was created to bring home to you, wherever it brings you.
Designer: Mehmet Mehmetaliogl from ‘Umeå Institute of Design
FӦNSTÅ has an integrated peg-and-socket hanging system so household items can be kept there.
Designed as a wall accessory, FӦNSTÅ operates as an organizing tool as well.
Users can slide in between pages to view previously stored memories as well as unread ones.
The accessory’s stylus is kept on a magnetic strip located on the side panel of FӦNSTÅ.
FӦNSTÅ comes with different colored inks so that users can organize their messages according to their own coordinated scheme.
Touching and holding a message allows users to directly respond to them.
Users can use the stylus on the board just like a marker on a whiteboard.
FӦNSTÅ is the first thing to greet you when you walk through the door.
FӦNSTÅ’s prospective consumers and their mental health were thoroughly researched.
