3 Days of Design 2024: best of Danish design and beyond

‘Arba’ chair by Erwan Bouroullec for Raawii

(Image credit: Courtesy Raawii)

last updated 19 June 2024

Over 350 events, 11 districts and one theme: 3 Days of Design 2024 returns to the Danish capital for its 11th edition. With brand collaborations, group exhibitions, new showrooms and more, the festival is running under the theme ‘Dare to Dream’ for 2024. From Refshaleøen to Nordhavn, see how global behemoths and emerging talent come together 12-14 June across Copenhagen.

Best of 3 Days of Design 2024

Hem

For the first time, design brand Hem is producing re-editions. Inside its showroom, find both the ‘Experiment Chair’ by Finnish designer Yrjö Kukkapuro and Erik Höglund’s mouth-blown ‘Fars Glas’ wine glass amongst the playful new contemporary works. 'This was the most joyful era of his career,' said Kukkapuro’s granddaughter during the launch of the chair.

Palægade 8

Hay x Asics

Asics and Hay sneakers in pink worn by a wooden chair

Hay are stepping outdoors with a footwear collaboration with Japanese sportswear brand Asics. The limited edition collection is a reformation of the 1994 Skyhand OG in unmistakable Hay colours – pink, green and blue. The collaboration sees comfort at the core with Asics ‘a brand that aligns greatly with HAY’s core value to make well-designed products for all,’ says Mette Hay, Creative Director of Hay Accessories. Other notable launches for Hay at 3daysofdesign this year include an equally colourful clothing rack by Muller Van Severen. The whimsical undulating design is an alternative for a wardrobe for small city apartments or a nifty display for a retail space.

Hay House, Østergade 61, 2, 1100 København, Denmark

Massproductions

A nostalgic ode to the 1990s era of television was how Massproductions celebrated 3daysofdesign. Visitors were welcomed to lounge on the new ‘Patch’ sofa system, which has many inspirations for its design, including a string of sausages. From here, the audience could view MMMTV – an on-screen collage of Stockholm based furniture company’s many influences. The installation intended to reflect the concept of the convenient and casual ‘TV dinner’. In addition, the brand launched the ‘Woodwerk’ stackable solid beech chair with rotating back legs.

Bredgade 75

Ukurant Unwrapped

This group show of emerging talent returns for its fourth edition. Described as a community, founded by young designers for young designers, the showcase allows rising stars to apply for an open call that allows these pieces are available to buy. Ukurant Unwrapped is the result of difficulties of entering the industry and highlights included Gothenburg-based Hampus Penttinen’s lime green folding stool to Anna Zimmemann’s aluminium sculptural vases.

Frederiksholms Kanal 28A, 1220 Copenhagen

Center Center by Form Us With Love for String

String furniture by Form us with Love in colourful modular arrangements

Flexibility has been embedded into our life and work. Storage needs have evolved with this, and Stockholm-based design studio Form Us With Love have been thinking in this vein for its newest storage system with String Furniture. Formed of powder coated metal perforated sheet boxes, the modular pieces offer plenty of possibilities that can neatly organise any office or home. There‘s also dynamic colour options to future proof the needs of a contemporary home, or lift a monochrome workspace.

Framing, Odd Fellow Palace, Bredgade 28

Tekla x Artek

Aino Aalto inspired Tekla bedding with white flowers on pastel background

Designer and architect Aino Aalto’s legacy is being celebrated by Tekla and Artek in a limited edition launch of bedding featuring her Kirsikankukka pattern. The print was first established as a homage to Japanese art and design in the 1930s, and this contemporary use of the simple cherry blossom design in the Tekla bedding is featured in three subtle hues of blue, white and pink. ‘In Aino Aalto’s quest to create beauty for the everyday, she viewed patterns and textiles as not just a decorative layer, but an integral part of the home’s interior,’ says Marianne Goebl, managing director at Artek.

Vognmagergade 7, TH, 1120 Copenhagen

Transcending through fragrance with Aesop

There are many ways to experience the world of Aesop this 3 Days of Design. Inside the new store in Kronprinsensgade, a vase and chair by Fredericia Furniture is found in the space that is inspired by the lakeside experience of the Louisiana Museum, north of Copenhagen. Low ceilings are complemented by red bricks and a halo light creating an aura of intimacy while the art and homely feel adds warmth throughout. Elsewhere, the brand’s scent booth has popped up at group show ‘Transcendence’. First shown in Milan, the olfactory experience riffs off the mood through a fragrance clock, ticking from morning to evening with different scents.

Transcendence:Werkstatt 167, Refshalevej 167A, 1432 Copenhagen
New store: Kronprinsensgade 4-6, Unit 2, 1114 København, Denmark

‘Collage’ by Frama and Toogood

Frama apotek in copenhagen with installation by Faye Toogood

Inspired by the book The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard, a playful installation sees Danish multidisciplinary studio and London-based designer Faye Toogood teaming up to explore new perspectives of Frama’s apotek space. The bold and colourful takeover divides the area, which still retains its historical features of when it was a pharmacy, with crafted wooden panels, often reflecting the red tones of the local architecture of Fredericiagade. Like any good collaboration, this one includes a capsule collection of gilets and gift box with the collage print available to buy.

FRAMA Fredericiagade 57 DK 1310 Copenhagen

Domestic Pleasures by Tableau

What makes a place a home? This is the question on the lips of multidisciplinary creative studio and exhibition space Tableau. In this group show, artists and designers including Lino Gasparitsch (work pictured), Alyssa Megan Lewis and Six Dots Design have realised works that address the concept of belonging. Visitors can experience Tableau in two locations this year, its gallery space and concept store, both locations celebrating its renewed vision.

TABLEAU gallery, Vimmelskaftet 41a, 1161 Copenhagen

Tableau Concept Store, Store Strandstræde 20, 1255 Copenhagen K

Enter the Salon

Ladies & Gentlemen Studio lighting for Kvadrat

In an ode to the concept of salons as a form of gathering, this group show is housed within an old townhouse, The Conary and curated by Signe Hytte. Described as where ‘design, art and poetry converge’, the exhibition includes ethereal new lighting by Brooklyn-based studio Ladies & Gentlemen in collaboration with Kvadrat and Sahco. Elsewhere Origin Made’s new collection, “Materials Intention” features delicately woven baskets that are the result of working with makers in Spain, including Galician artisan Idoia Cuesta.

‘Enter The Salon’ at The Conary, Dronningens Tværgade 26, 1302 København, Denmark

‘Young Hopes’ by Gubi and Unicef

The Danish brand is teaming up with charity UNICEF for a sale of 100 of its best selling ‘Pacha’ lounge chairs by French designer Pierre Paulin, originally designed in 1975. All proceeds will go to helping children in crisis zones, specifically Burkina Faso, Myanmar, and Sudan. Titled ‘Young Hopes’, the campaign is Gubi using this global design calendar moment to shine a lens on the importance of helping those who are suffering the most from humanitarian crisis.

Orientkaj 18-20, 2150 Copenhagen

Happy Sobriety by Erwan Bouroullec and Raawii

Inside art and design gallery Etage Projects, French designer Erwan Bouroullec and Copenhagen-based brand raawii are coming together for a fully shopable experience. Described as somewhere between bazaar, lab and gallery, there will be a personal collections of Bouroullec’s graphic works and furniture on offer, peppered with raawii’s smaller pieces. The brand, which launched in 2017, will release a chair by Bouroullec, an inaugural chair design from the brand, named ‘Arba’.

Etage Projects, Borgergade 15E, 1300 Copenhagen

Jens Quistgaard: Around the Table by Form Portfolios

Jens Quisgaard exhibition display with wooden objects, shown at 3 Days of Design 2024 in Copenhagen

A historic display of designer Jens Quistgaards world' is coming to Copenhagen for 3 Days of Design 2024. Situated at Form Portfolios’s studio, the archive of the 20th century designer (who was principal designer at Dansk for three decades) showcases his sculptural work that was popular in America, but lesser known in Denmark. Find discoveries from Quistgaard’s countryside home, sketches and more in this intimate display. 'My father was a visionary of design, bridging the old world of craftsman-ship into the new world of manufacturing,' says his daughter, Henriette.

Badstuestræde 17, 1 sal, 1209 København

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Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.