Anima Allegra* is a house manufacturing workshop based in the IKEA store in London. The project acts against IKEA’s approach of “democratising” design and gamifying capitalist ideas. Integrated into an existing building, Anima Allegra provides facilities for the members of the community to design, build and prototype their new home. It explores the alternative way of building a house and making it more participatory.

There are 3 main components of the project: the House, the Intervention and the Test Site. Together, they establish Anima Allegra as an idea that encourages people to put more thought in design, but also illustrates how energy and time consuming good design is.

Through integrating community members into all design stages: planning, building and testing, it would be possible to interrogate the uniqueness of their preferences and share control over the process with the user. Unlike IKEA, Anima Allegra not only makes design accessible, but thought provoking. It seeks to broaden one’s perception of how they could or should live in their house.

The name is inspired by a unique program of new wave clowning - a synthesis of pantomime, dance, acrobatics and juggling.