Unlike festivals in cities such as Milan, Paris and Stockholm that have spilled out of a central exhibition, 3daysofdesign emerged from showrooms and studios based all over Copenhagen. This year, the city hosted more than 400 exhibitors – almost twice as many as in 2023 – but its small size and committed cycling culture enabled exploration within the event’s titular timeframe.

In fact, it was the decision to cycle to work and enjoy the Copenhagen’s waterfront scenery that inspired managing director Signe Byrdal Terenziani to set this year’s theme: Dare to Dream. “We need to create spaces that allow us to stop for a moment, close our eyes and dream,” she told the festival’s official publication, The Paper. “‘Dare’ resonates with pushing boundaries, and when adding the optimistic word ‘dream,’ it becomes a gentle reminder for us all to use dreams as a catalyst for positive change.” Reporting from on the ground in Copenhagen, we have chosen eight products, projects or exhibitions here that rose to her challenge.

Kvadrat

Kvadrat commissioned 12 designers to “show how the many aspects of sustainability can shape design, spark material innovation, increase community collaboration and cultivate new aesthetic values” using their fabric. Maxwell Ashford added oversized care labels to the ubiquitous design fair tote to communicate the various environmental impacts of each Kvadrat fabric, from CO₂ equivalent to the lifetime environmental cost of each bag. Totes could be purchased by donating eight times that amount to an environmental NGO.

Folk

FÓLK Reykjavik connects industrial waste streams with aspiring designers to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The brand showcased a pillow by Studio Flétta made from upcycled airbags, the Offcut Tray – a collaboration between FÓLK and Portuguese stonemasons – and Marcus Götschl’s Venti Table made from steel sheets leftover from ventilation systems production.

Louis Poulsen

Louis Poulsen coalesced up with lauded artists Oliver Sundqvist and Frederik Nystrup-Larsen to celebrate the House of Light’s 150th anniversary. With their colossal installation, beautifully named A Heart of Light, the duo provided an unconventional perspective of perhaps our greatest icon, PH Artichoke, by extending an invitation to patrons to foray into its essence, both physical and metaphysical.

TAKT – T24 Bow Chair

When Industrial Facility’s Sam Hecht and Kim Colin get together with Danish B-Corp TAKT, expect understated brilliance. TAKT prioritises repairability and transparency with replacement parts, EU Ecolabels and climate reports. Heckt and Colin wanted to ‘tailor’ plywood as if the pattern for the chair back and arms had been cut from a single piece of fabric. ‘Bow Chair calmly presents itself as an incredibly beautiful and comfortable armchair that just happens to be entirely repairable,’ says founder and CEO of TAKT, Henrik Taudorf Lorensen of the result of their collaboration.

Studio Eggi

More than a just a plaything, the EGGI Kitchen is way for children and adults alike to ‘stop for a moment, close our eyes and dream’ just as Terenziani suggested. Made using post-consumer waste in the form of Smile Plastics’ Heron material, it is the manifestation of founder Elisa Kim’s ambition to invite ‘sustainability, imagination and whimsy into our everyday lives.’ While the climate crisis is both urgent and serious, perhaps whimsy and time to play are what we need to find creative solutions.

Sould

Local craftspeople and farmers have recently uncovered a 17^th century thatching technique unique to the Danish island of Læso that uses eelgrass. After a decade of research and development, Søuld is demonstrating its potential – both functionally and aesthetically – for modern buildings. It offers carbon capture, acoustic and thermal comfort, humidity regulation, durability, fire-resistance and protection from mould.

Lovskal Ochre by Thomas Woltman

Lovskal Ochre, by Royal Danish Academy graduate Thomas Woltman, tells the story of the last Danish ochre mine – in Løvskal, Jutland. No pigment has been extracted or produced in the country since it closed in 1965. Woltman showcases artefacts – from safety shoes to shovels – associated with ochre production as well as samples that explore its future applications in textile dying, ceramic glazing, and linseed oil. Woltman describes it as ‘a cabinet that looks to the past with the vision of re-establishing a future.’

Sørensen Leather x GamFratesi

Sorensen Leather launched Leisure – a collection of hand-sanded, protected leather for inside and outside use. They worked with Danish-Italian design duo GamFratesi to create 14 nature-inspired colours, inspired by a trip the couple took through Europe. ‘The palette includes everything from warm terracotta to the black of volcanic ash, which we discovered in Southern Europe,’ says Stine Gam. ‘There are also cheerful yellow hues inspired by the Danish rape fields, along with graceful shades of grey, beige and brown that capture the calm of Scandinavia forests.’

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