Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design festival has made an uncanny ascent to the top of the ranks of global design fairs in the past couple of years. Soon after we started reeling over the number of non-professionals going to Milan for pleasure rather than business, we started hearing the same about 3 Days, which we had only ever personally experienced (as recently as 2021) as a tiny event with mostly local participants. To be fair, it owes a part of its popularity explosion to the fact that it takes place in Copenhagen, in the summer, which is not a bad place to be even when your social calendar isn’t full of design aperitivos. But as interest has grown, so, too, has participation — its roster has ballooned to encompass international design brands, group exhibitions, and even the participation of local fashion labels like Stine Goya and Samsøe Samsøe. This year’s edition, which took place mid-month, was attended by more New Yorkers we know than ever — including myself, who traveled to the show as a guest of Royal Copenhagen — and the ones who didn’t attend were dying of curiosity about what we saw. Today’s roundup, we hope, will answer some of those questions.

The TL;DR is that 3 Days of Design is indeed crowded now, and more international than ever, but the actual content still skews towards brands rather than independent design studios or creative projects. For those of us who went to Milan, there was a lot of overlap, particularly when it came to international participants. But the local ones did save some of their best launches for Copenhagen. Heritage porcelain brand Royal Copenhagen, for example, took the opportunity to celebrate its 250th anniversary while showing off its first-ever non-tabletop collection, a series of lamps, trays, and trinket boxes called Kontur — the launch representing the start of its efforts to explore new directions under the leadership of its new creative director, luxury fashion veteran Jasper Toron Nielsen (with more to come in August). Frama and Hay both had strong collection releases as well, the latter including the reissue of a Mario Bellini sofa and a new lighting series by Ana Kras, while Danish heritage brand Fredericia reissued Nanna Ditzel’s playful 1989 Bench for Two.

We still managed to find some studio-driven gems, though, presented in a handful of group exhibitions around town, as well as at a new Alcova-like hub called Other Circle, which took place at a creative studio complex in the far north of the city. That’s really the kind of content that brings us the most joy, so we’ve focused on it primarily below. Without further ado, here’s the best of everything we saw.

Royal Copenhagen

The Danish heritage porcelain brand, founded in 1775 by the then-queen of Denmark, celebrated its 250th anniversary by paying homage both to its past and its future. The former through an exhibition in its flagship store illuminating the making of its greatest hits, and the latter by launching two new projects: Kontur, a collection of lamps, boxes, and trays that marks the brand’s first foray beyond tabletop, and a series of whimsical aquatic-themed plates made in collaboration with young artist Klara Lilja. Kontur in particular is a harbinger of things to come under the recent leadership of creative director Jasper Toron Neilsen, a luxury fashion alum who’s been mining the Royal Copenhagen archives and thinking about how to give the brand a contemporary edge without losing its essential spirit — he’ll be unveiling lots more newness, including home textiles, this August. Kontur collection Klara Lilja Anniversary exhibition

Project Materia

For this group exhibition, Copenhagen design gallery Tableau teamed up with art purveyor Edition Solenne to invite nine studios to travel to PIetrasanta, Italy, and create pieces in marble, glass, and/or bronze, including: Andres Reisinger, Cathrine Raben Davidsen, Forever Studio, Helle Mardahl, Jacob Egeberg, Laurids Gallee, Louise Roe, Onno Adrianse, and Willem Van Hooff. Photos: Armin Tehrani Laurids GalléeHelle MardahlJacob EgebergBloc Studios x Tableau

Hay

Hay previewed a slew of forthcoming fall launches at its jam-packed headquarters, from a playful ceramic tabletop collection created by artist Emma Kohlmann to a new perforated cabinet series by Muller van Severen. They also debuted new fabric-wrapped lamps by Ana Kras, a simple wooden coffee table by Jonathan Muecke, and the reissue of the 1960s Amanta sofa by Mario Bellini.Mario BelliniJonathan MueckeAna Kras Emma KohlmannMuller Van Severen

Stine Goya x Yrjö Kukkapuro

One of the most fun collaborations of the week saw Danish fashion designer Stine Goya adding her personal touches to Finnish design legend Yrjö Kukkapuro’s Moderno chair, produced since the 1960s by Lepo Product. Goya added striped or color-blocked upholstery and curated a new palette of colors for the chairs’ powdercoated metal frames.

Værktøj 2

The second edition of a group exhibition exploring the role of tools in design — organized by Kasper Salto, Frederik Gustav, Michael Antrobus, and Jonas Trampedach — this presentation showcased pieces by that group, plus four more designers, all of which were made using a workshop press. Photos: Peter Vinther

Avilde HolmJohn Tree Michael Antrobus Frederik Gustav Tom Dixon

Falke Svatun for New Works

Norwegian designer Falke Svatun debuted an elegant lighting series for New Works that plays with light diffusion across trumpet- or donut-shaped shades.

MycoWorks

For their show Reishi in the Nordic Light, the mycelium producer and biotech company MycoWorks invited Danish designers to create pieces using its latest material, Reishi, which it describes as a cross between fabric and leather. Photos: Armin TehraniMaria BruunOEO Studio Atelier Axo

Gestures of Home

Three brands teamed up for Gestures of Home, an installation curated by Openhouse Studio and styled by Henriette Schou: Saba Italia, Expormim, and Armadillo. The latter debuted a fun collaboration with Tom Fereday, who created a suite of wood furniture softened with fragments of the brand’s plush Agra rug in lieu of traditional upholstery.

Bench For Two

Danish furniture brands Fredericia and A. Petersen have teamed up to reissue design icon Nanna Ditzel’s 1989 Bench for Two, which features a dramatic cleaved backrest decorated with concentric stripes.

Adorno

Adorno’s Persona exhibition spanned three themed rooms, each representing a different personality — the eccentric, the romantic, and the perfectionist — but we were partial to the latter, which featured works in metal and glass by Elis Monsport, Obscure Objects, Vincent Decat, and more. Plus an incredible chain-mail wall hanging peppered with metal fruit by Ia Kutateladze.

Other Circle

Inside a gorgeous renovated industrial building, this new fair‘s organizers brought together a wide range of participants, from cc-tapis, to Fredrik Paulsen’s Joy Objects, to Noma Projects, to Apartamento, to a new platform for group exhibitions by independent Norwegian designers called Volum. BD Barcelona launched a new office furniture suite by Muller Van Severen, and the Danish fashion brand Samsøe Samsøe created an abstract summer camp installation complete with a campfire scent and a bench made from recycled clothing. Galerie MLSSamsøe SamsøeEmma Clarke BD Barcelona x Muller van SeverenJoy ObjectsKarl MoniesLino Gasparitsch and Bettina WillnauerLotto StudioVolum – Kristine Five MelvaerVolum – Hunting & Narud

YSG for Bankston

Sydney-based interiors firm YSG is the latest studio to collaborate with Australian hardware brand Bankston, for the Streaks collection launched during 3DD — and now available to purchase through Petra. The collection revolves around a series of handles featuring two-tone wooden stripes.

Bread and Butter

In this group show supported by the Korean Embassy, 12 Korean and Scandinavian designers were tasked with creating pairs of objects for the table, from a red resin wine cooler and tray by Forever Studio to glass carafes and coasters by Maria Bruun to a duo of striking wooden trays by Kunsik.

Home From Home

Inside two apartments run as part rentals / part creative residencies — collectively called Noura Residency — Charlotte Taylor curated two consecutive immersive installations featuring the work of a dozen brands and three dozen designers, aiming to evoke everyday life through an exaggeratedly messy set design. The second, which ran during 3DD, is pictured below. Photos: Elizabeth Heltoft Arnby

Frama

Frama released new pieces into three of its collections: Petit Rond by Troels Grum-Schwensen, Symmetry by Studio 0405, and Ratio by Ilo.Petit Rond Ratio
Symmetry

Carl Hansen & Søn

Danish heritage brand Carl Hansen & Søn christened its sprawling new showroom with an exhibition showcasing both classic pieces as well as new reissues, like the Vita sofa by Nanna Ditzel and a spare swiveling desk chair by Hans Wegner.

Objective Studies

Online object purveyor Objective Studies dropped its second collection at 3DD, including handmade tabletop pieces and furniture. Photos: Priszcilla Varga
Scott SmithVilde Hagelund (dish) and Amelie Grauengaard (spoon)Alexandra AriasAnnie Paxton

Artek x Marimekko

Artek and Marimekko teamed up for a new series of limited edition furniture launching properly in September — essentially Aalto furniture with woodwork in the form of designer Maija Isola’s wavy Arkkitehti pattern for Marimekko.

Vasto Gallery

Spanish design gallery Vasto migrated north for the week with an installation of works by Sara Regal made from construction waste found around Mallorca. The show was staged inside the offices of fashion designer Cecilie Bahnsen.

Anne Nowak

At the Sound of Material exhibition, Copenhagen artist Anne Nowak debuted wall lamps made from heat-molded and spray-painted discs of recycled plastic. Photos: Anne Marie Jo

Unplugged

The Danish fashion brand Baum und Pferdgarten invited five designers — Kasper
Kyster, Lærke Ryom, Frederik Gustav, Carsten in der Elst, and Didi NG Wing Yin — to take over its flagship store in central Copenhagen to celebrate its new collection with works that focus on slow craftsmanship.
Frederik GustavCarsten In Der ElstKasper Kyster

Ferm Living

Ferm Living‘s latest collection, showcased during the fair, contained a few hits in particular that we wanted to call out, including a delightfully blocky minimalist nightstand, a sculptural planter, a fun wall shelf, and a series of decorative metal dishes / centerpieces with organic cutouts.