Design News: Ikea launches pet furniture, events to check out at Archifest 2020

PHOTO: IKEA

IKEA LAUNCHES PET FURNITURE

The Swedish furniture giant's new Lurvig range of pet furniture is created by pet-loving designers and trained veterinarians who did research on the animals' natural needs and behaviour.

Dr Barbara Schafer, who does product risk assessment at Ikea and is also a trained veterinarian, says: "When it comes to sleeping, cats love clean and enclosed spaces and to lie on furry and cosy textiles. Dogs, on the other hand, don't care so much, as long as they have a space close to their owners."

The Lurvig collection offers a wide range of cat and dog furniture and accessories in colours, patterns and textures to suit pets' different personalities and needs.

The cat house, for instance, goes perfectly with Ikea classics such as the Kallax shelving unit.

Eating behaviour plays an important part as well, says Dr Schafer. A tall ceramic bowl is ideal for cats as they tend to eat with their necks in a higher position, while the flexible travel bowl suits dogs as they enjoy frequent snacking.

Info: Prices range from 90 cents for a Lurvig bowl to $24.90 for a Lurvig blanket. More products will be added to the existing range at Ikea stores progressively till December.

ARCHIFEST EVENTS TO CHECK OUT

There is only a week left to the annual architecture festival, so catch these activities before the event ends on Oct 31.

Today, 1pm: Tune in to a free roundtable discussion on Prakarsa - a slew of initiatives by creatives to tackle humanitarian and ecological issues worldwide. It is hosted by Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia Singapura (Indonesian Architects Association of Singapore).

The architect-activists will talk about why they stepped out of their comfort zones to undertake these tasks and how architecture as a discipline enables them to do so.

Info: To register, go to this website

PHOTO: IKEA

Next Tuesday, 10 and 10.30am: Foodscape Collective, a community for sustainable food systems, is hosting two free 30-minute sessions to share insights into how it has evolved while nurturing its garden space at Jurong Central Park.

With the support of the National Parks Board, the Biodiverse Edible Garden in Jurong was started by Foodscape Collective last year and has taken off with local residents joining the garden team.

Learn how regenerative food-growing is practised at the garden and how to improve soil health, increase biodiversity, reuse waste food and garden trimmings to create compost and more.

Info: To register, go to this website

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 24, 2020, with the headline Design News: Ikea launches pet furniture, events to check out at Archifest 2020. Subscribe