Älmhult is globally known as the birthplace of IKEA, and the municipality has launched the Home of the Home place-branding strategy to align its civic identity with this corporate heritage. However, this top-down narrative does not fully resonate with the lived experience of the town’s international population. This thesis identifies a Home of the Home Paradox, in which physical and social barriers – most notably the railway line and the ‘IKEA bubble’ – hinder meaningful connections between residents and corporate employees.

To address Älmhult’s socio-spatial fragmentation, the theoretical framework integrates institutional analysis through the Social Fabric Matrix, social network theory via the Strength of Weak Ties, and service ecosystem design by reshaping mental models. The thesis develops the logic of the fabric as a conceptual framework, positioning local organizations, culture, and environment as the warp and residents as the weft that collectively weave the social fabric. The research employs a three-step methodological framework using a Research through Design (RtD) approach that integrates place-based research and Participatory Action Research. The study utilizes a mixed qualitative methodology, combining autoethnography, residents surveys and stakeholder interviews, participatory workshops, artistic articulation, and mental model elicitation.

The primary design contribution, the Social Weaving Toolkit, consists of a manifesto and a practical handbook. The Manifesto of the Fabric provides the mindset required to transform individual lines of life into a resilient social fabric, while the Interlacing Handbook offers three core recipes for social engagement. By utilizing interlacing as a ‘material alibi’, the toolkit lowers social barriers and fosters connection through shared creative practice. To support implementation, the thesis proposes the Älmhult Social Co-Lab as a collaborative platform for bridging organizational silos and embedding social rituals into the town’s rhythms, providing a scalable methodology for transforming urban “throwntogetherness” into a sustained, lived experience of home.