Earlier this month, the designerati gathered in a chilly, rainy Copenhagen for the 11th edition of 3 Days of Design. Organized under the theme of “Dare to Dream,” the event was the largest version of the festival, with more than 400 design brands opening up their spaces or setting up shop across 11 neighborhoods in a variety of environments, from historic homes to Klub Werkstatt, a bar and nightclub in Refshaleøen across the harbor.
The impressive showing generated a small mountain of buzz. After this year’s ultra-busy Salone del Mobile, many observers—including Melissa Feldman in Business of Home and Alice Morby in Hypebeast—wondered if this was a new, more chill alternative. It certainly felt that way, though one could still wade through the crowd outside Palæ Bar, Copenhagen’s answer to Bar Basso. Rather than a week saturated by fashion and tech activations, I found Copenhagen to be quieter, more personal, and more manageable to explore most of what was on view. The Danish capital seemed to comfortably accept the bustle: More noticeable than the event’s attendees were the Metallica fans who flocked to see the metal act perform on Friday night.
These three days were filled with teasers, product launches, collaborations, and celebrations. The affair felt like a citywide showroom crawl that displayed the ongoing strength of Scandinavian furniture and design. If one tired of the elegant wood furniture and muted, quiet-luxury interiors, there were venues that took a chance to invite more experimental pop-ups and dig into questions of material flows and sustainability within design fabrication. An example of the former: Faye Toogood’s transformation of Frama using oversized, worn pieces of collage to create sculptural furniture. And of the latter: In its courtyard, Design Museum Danmark hosted “Circular Furniture Days,” which brought together examples of eco-innovation by furniture and surfaces manufacturers while also opening its new show DANISH MODERN, which includes a long gallery filled with the best chairs the country has produced. Both trajectories—that of recognizing the rich history of design in Denmark and beyond and supporting urgent conversations about how design must change in response to the climate crisis—ought to be strengthened in future versions of this successful event.
There were many high points along the way: Ark Journal’s thoughtfully curated group show introduced a range of new items, like RÄKKI RUGS (handmade in Nepal) and DÉCA, a new line of faucets for TONI Copenhagen designed by BIG. Artek continued its collaboration with Tekla to present fabrics using a cherry-blossom pattern designed by Aino Aalto to celebrate her 130th birthday. And in addition to Muuto’s product launches, the brand announced its inaugural Muuto Design Contest, which stands to be a way to support new talent.
I could go on and on—greatness abounded. From the many beautiful activations glimpsed during a fun week in Copenhagen, here are some stand-out selections. I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Enter the Salon
Curated by Signe Hytte, this was perhaps the most refined group show. Sited across two floors of an old townhouse, the layered settings, imagined as the private home of stranger with great taste, handsomely showed off furniture by Japanese brand Karimoku Case and lighting by the U.S.-based Ladies & Gentleman Studio, along with items from Carpe Diem Beds, Origin Made, Ambientec, Silkeborg Uldspinderi, and August Sandgren. The rooms were dark and moody, a sensibility that was counterbalanced by the glass atrium’s lightness, ringed in curtains and populated with furniture designed by Norm Architects for Karimoku Case.
&Tradition
This Danish furniture company presented several installations across its showroom floors. Beyond an archival look at Robin Day’s work, there were immersive installations by Anderssen & Voll and Luca Nichetto, the latter of whom took a personal approach with his Designing Memories room that staged handwritten text with objects that recalled the designer’s childhood. Additionally, the Studies of a Bench hybrid art-design exhibition staged new ideas for this familiar piece of furniture by Savvy Studio, Jeonghwa Seo, Agnes Studio, All the Way to Paris, and studioutte. My favorite was Agnes Studio’s Lata Bench, made from compressed aluminum cans, more evidence of the emerging “post-trash” aesthetic.
Islands of Wellbeing by Fritz Hansen
Fritz Hansen partnered with Danish architecture practice Cobe to stage its activation across two sites. Its workplace offerings were seen on the ground floor of an under-construction building on the Paper Island. But more tantalizingly, the brand took over the Operaparken, a park set atop a parking structure for the nearby opera house. Cobe has landscaped the top into a comfy oasis, and the central pavilion for parking access is leafy, bright, and sports a cafe. Fritz Hansen’s new and upcoming pieces were on view, and the brand activated the showing with a series of engaging talks.
The Anagram sofa by Vitra
From its showroom digs in Nordhavn, Vitra showcased its new Anagram sofa, designed by Panter&Tourron. The modular sofa is designed for flexibility: Backs and side tables are movable and slide along a rail molded into the sofa’s frame, and individual pieces can be clipped together to form (and reform) new arrangements depending on what life throws at you. Fabrics and finishes can be mixed and matched, making for a system with many enjoyable colorways. The Anagram sofa will be available in September. Stay tuned for a forthcoming deeper dive on this product.
Kvadrat
Next door to Vitra, Kvadrat ventured into new realms with ReThink, the seventh edition of its Design Projects. The show focused on designers exploring Kvadrat’s fabrics when responding to the urgent prompt of sustainability. A group of 12 designers proposed a range of interventions, from a tented structure to a new calendar. I particularly liked Fernando Laposse’s The Good Shepherd, which was a rocking bench made from agave fiber, and Kīpuka, by Leong Leong: The Hawaiian word means “oasis” or “clearing,” and the circular pads suggested a place to rest and recharge.
Dinesen x Pawson
This collaboration was covered in Issue 25 of AN Interior, but it was still rewarding to see Dinesen’s showroom renovated by John Pawson to make it a more appropriate staging area for his elemental furniture. The ongoing collaboration is also marked by the distribution of White, Light, Wood, a book that explores the process of realizing the latest step in this decades-long productive relationship. Next door is SMULD, an exhibition by Office Kim Lenschow and Bonnie Hvillum of Natural Material Studio, which explores new, rubber-like materials made from sawdust and natural wood binders.
Crafting Plastic by Kasper Kyster
Staged near Designmuseum Danmark, this show of furniture made from sheets of plastic fused into chairs, lights, and objects was a welcome dose of experimentation. Kyster’s wraps explores taking an industrial material and using it for handmade, organic purposes. The models are illuminated from below and glow like ice sculptures. Very refreshing!
The Toto Table Lamp by Hem
The bright colors of Hem’s pop-up stood out from the storefronts along the central Bredgate thoroughfare. This new lamp, available online starting August 15, is offered in three sizes and features stripes and saturated colorways. The space also previewed a forthcoming reissue: the squiggly, postmodern, 1980s extravaganza that is the Experiment Chair from Finnish designer Yrjö Kukkapuro.
Louis Poulsen
This leading house of light marked a century and half of handsome lighting with the realization of A Heart of Light, by artists Oliver Sundqvist and Frederik Nystrup-Larsen, which rescales and deconstructs the distinctive petals of the PH 5 lamp into an outdoor art piece. Also on view were offerings from the brands collaboration with Fendi, new colors for its PH 5 pendant, and an early look at Louis Poulsen: First House of Light, a book about the company by TF Chan.
Vipp
Vipp celebrates 85 years with a reimagined showroom that is also the site of an installation by Danish artist Kirstine Roepstorff, who presents her idea of a hair salon, in reference to the brand’s origin bin from 1939 being used in this setting. Also on view was the brand’s new stainless steel collection of bins and accessories and a new desk made with aluminum and marble. Both will be available in September.
Jens Quistgaard by Form Portfolios
Jens Quistgaard: Around the Table is the first showing by Form Portfolios at 3 Days of Design. Installed within the company’s office, the exhibition showcases a life of products and chairs designed by Quistgaard, who died in 2008. It was a treat to see his designs for Dansk gathered together. Most of the objects come from the collection of Stig Guldberg, who also wrote the monographic Jens Quistgaard: The Sculpting Designer.
FRAMING
FRAMING was the most centralized show at 3 Days of Design: It staged 46 brands across two venues, and over 15,000 design enthusiasts visited. Highlights include seeing Arper’s Catifa Carta, a new version of the brand’s Catifa 53 chair made with PaperShell, a composite wood by-product; DESSO by Tarkett, a carpet made to be disassembled into its component parts of yarn and backing; and Kasthall’s new Landskab rugs, designed by Cecilie Manz.