Our Favorite Finds from Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design Festival
This month saw the 10th-anniversary of Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design festival, an annual event celebrating the best of the small nation’s brightest talents in design. There were hundreds of exhibitions throughout the event, held June 7–9 in the Danish capital, from some of the industry’s most celebrated brands including Carl Hansen & Søn, Louis Poulsen, Fritz Hansen, as well as newcomers like Ferm Living, Frama, and Reform. Here is just a handful of ELLE DECOR’s favorite finds.
Fora Projects
The sustainability-focused firm Fora Projects (it manufactures many of its low-impact solid hardwood pieces at a boat factory in coastal Croatia) collaborated with the firm Bahraini Danish on a new, versatile sculptural stool that will soon be available with upholstery, showcased in a charming wood-paneled space that feels more like a summer home than a showroom. —Sean Santiago
Garde Hvalsøe
Situated within a private courtyard in central Copenhagen, the Garde Hvalsøe showroom was recently reconfigured by Bunn Studio from an original design by David Thulstrup. The space riffs on elements of the brand’s headquarters in Aarhus, also designed by Bunn Studio, while incorporating custom work that allows for maximum flexibility, such as showcasing a special 3 Days of Design installation by the designer and artist Sara Martinsen that explores strength and fragility in nature. —S.S.
Louis Poulsen
Copenhagen is rife with iconic designs, from Arne Jacobsen chairs to Erik Magnussen jugs, so it’s exciting to see some of these more famous silhouettes get a 21st-century makeover. Louis Poulsen tapped Home in Heven—a brand that made waves last year after its glass Coperni bag appeared on the arms of celebrities like Doja Cat and Kylie Jenner—to put a new spin on its tried-and-true classics. The Home in Heven duo, models (and glassblowers) Breanna Box and Peter Dupont, added cheeky, artful touches to favorites in Louis Poulsen’s Pale Rose collection—like the PH 2/1 table lamp, which here sprouts a pair of devil horns. The VL45 pendant gets a particularly fun, confectionary remix and is decorated in white tentacles adorned with bulbous blue suction cups. Other takes on the Poul Henningsen and Vilhelm Lauritzen formula are a bit more subtle, like the milky-white glass used in Heven’s version of the PH5. For 3 Days of Design, the original pieces were exhibited side by side with the reworks, so they almost mirror each other. —Helena Madden
Reform
Kitchen brand Reform (which has recently opened stateside showrooms in Brooklyn and Paramus, New Jersey) introduced the Atelier Collection, a suite of high-design handles that complement their new Plain and Shaker kitchens, executed by a global roster of artisans in four elementary materials: metal, glass, wood, and ceramic. —S.S.
Ferm Living
Sustainability is top of mind at 3 Days of Design, so it’s no surprise that the latest from Ferm Living has an eco-friendly angle to it. Designed by Norwegian artist Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng, the Dal Piece is made of recycled aluminum and consists of wavy, sculptural lines inspired by a Gudbrandsdalen mountainside. In particular, the contours are a nod to water slowly eroding solid rock in a cave, an organic muse for a certifiably nature-friendly final product. Dal was displayed alongside Ferm’s plethora of other product offerings in its Copenhagen showroom, which range from children’s toys and bath accessories to sofas and outdoor furniture. —H.M.
Fritz Hansen
Fritz Hansen pulled out all the stops for its presentation at 3 Days of Design this year, staging a show in the Charlottenborg Palace—home of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts since 1754. The core exhibition hall sees iconic furnishings by the likes of Poul Kjærholm deconstructed in large illuminated cubes. A moodier room reflects on the legacy of Arne Jacobsen; debut works by contemporary designers are included as well. Outside, visitors could get hands-on with the brand’s new Skagerak outdoor collection, which launched earlier this year. —H.M.
Frama
The young firm Frama set up Il Mercato for 3 Days of Design, transforming its showroom in an old apothecary into a farmers’ market in collaboration with Apotek57, their in-house seasonal eatery curated and run by chef Chiara Barla, and Grønt Marked, a Copenhagen-based farmers’ market that has supported small producers since 2019. —S.S.
Carl Hansen & Søn
Copenhagen-based sculptor Nicholas Shurey created a series of thoughtful assemblages for Carl Hansen & Søn, whose flagship boutique was converted into a “House of Craft” for 3 Days of Design in tribute to the talents of Hans J. Wegner, Kaare Klint, Alfred Homann, and Poul Kjærholm. —S.S.
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