Before IKEA, there was Elementhus …
Long before IKEA became a household name, and made the flatpack an icon associated with Sweden, a couple of midcentury architects who have nearly been forgotten rethought how houses could be constructed. They convinced a leading steel company and 13 other industrial giants to buy a sleepy sawmill in central Sweden and turn it into the Miracle in Mockfjärd.
In 1952, the machines were turned on, and over the next 20 years, 18,000 houses were pumped out of the factory and into working class villages around Sweden and even as far as Germany ... this is the story of the Miracle in Mockfjärd.
Our Goals
As an international community, we are working to preserve the history of AB Elementhus and ultimately display one of these homes in Skansen for its cultural merit.
This association seeks to accomplish several things:
Locate and preserve the living history of "Elementhus" and assist the local historians in preserving this aspect of Swedish building history.
Catalyze and organize a project to preserve and curate an original example of an "elementhus" and display it in the open air museum in Skansen, along with an interpretive display of its significance and importance in the living history of Sweden.