Welcome to 3 Days of Design
It’s hard to fathom quite how quickly 3 Days of Design has risen to the top of the industry’s firmament. It started life in 2013 as a modest gathering of four brands in an old warehouse in Nordhavn. We were there, drinking craft beer out of cans, listening to house music surrounded by sofas, wondering if this was the future. Today, upwards of 500 companies, studios and designers from around the world will spill into venues across eight districts in the city. Around 45,000 visitors attended last year.
All year you hear talk of brands deciding to forego their usual presence at other fairs in favour of heading to the Danish capital in June instead. Warmer than Stockholm in February, more humane than Milan in April, closer to key markets than New York in May, 3 Days of Design has everything going for it. Its biggest success, most would agree, is that it is enjoyable. There is no fairground to suck your soul away from the midsummer sun. 3 Days is proof that a design event can inhabit a city and be dignified, combining business, culture and pleasure, symbiotically.
Of course it helps that Copenhagen is such a model urban experience, and the Danes are consummate hosts. The event feels seamless and grounded, working with the city and its resident population, not against it. It helps more perhaps because design is an embedded part of Danish culture, heritage and contemporary. Design is a business in Denmark, but it is also a democratic principle, not a luxury commodity as is the case elsewhere.
To bring 3 Days of Design to life for those not able to make it, we are on the ground this week, bringing live coverage in snippets and snapshots of our discoveries and discussions as we go.
To make it easier for you to navigate, we've pinned a few of our highlights for what to see at 3 Days of Design 2025 on to this map.
Hugo Macdonald
Meet the editors
Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he rejoined the team last year to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as Global Design Director.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people.
Olly Mason is the Head of Interiors at Wallpaper*. Over the past decade working for us, she has frequently attended design weeks around the world, with Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design being a regular highlight. Through these visits, Olly gains invaluable insight into furniture and global design culture, building meaningful connections with designers and brands that help shape the interiors direction of the brand and guide the creation of Wallpaper’s interiors photoshoots.
‘Home from Home’ by Charlotte Taylor x Noura Residency
Continuing the recent theme of cinematic exhibitions that resemble lived-in apartments, Noura Residency (a location apartment on Sankt Peders Stræde) has teamed with art director and designer Charlotte Taylor to create ‘Home from Home’. Here guests are welcomed inside to explore a series of atmospheric room sets featuring work by established and emerging designers. Shown here - a kitchen table designed by curator Charlotte Taylor, with chairs by Kasper Kyster and stone glasses by Diego Sanchez Barcelo. Ali Morris
‘Bread and Butter’
Taking place in Korean restaurant Ouri on Sankt Peders Stræde, ‘Bread and Butter’ is a playful showcase of specially commissioned objects for the dining table. Created by 12 designers hailing from Denmark, Korea, the Netherlands and Germany, the objects are all designed as pairs. Highlights include a mouth blown glass carafe and glass set with coasters by Marina Bruun, an off-kilter ceramic cup and saucer by Hun Lee, and a resin wine cooler and serving tray by Forever Studio. Curated by Ae Office and Pyeori Jung. Ali Morris.
Meanwhile, in Copenhagen...
A lamp by Matteo Fogale
As the world’s design press descended on the city for sneak peeks yesterday, our day began admiring offcuts from the Murano glass industry repurposed as beautiful lighting designs for Fucina Frammenti. Pieces included a suspended glass lamp with yellow ‘blooms’, and a portable lamp by Copenhagen-based Matteo Fogale. All are on show as part of the Venice brand’s ‘Appartamento’ exhibition on Sankt Peders Stræde 35. Ali Morris
Overnight in Odense
Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood home, with a little bit of Kengo Kuma’s museum visible next door on the right
An overnight stay in nearby Odense, Denmark’s third city, meant a post-dinner pilgrimage to the childhood home of Hans Christian Andersen, master-storyteller of Ugly Duckling fame. Kengo Kuma has designed a beautiful series of museum buildings and gardens adjoining the humble house, which opened in 2022. Odense rightly wears its HCA association proudly. Less heavily promoted is the fact that HCA couldn’t wait to escape small town life for the bright lights of Copenhagen. I’m following in his fabled footsteps, heading back to Copenhagen via the Carl Hansen factory this afternoon. Hugo Macdonald
Martin Bergmann of EOOS shows us the studio’s new book
We were entertained by Viennese design studio EOOS who demonstrated the clever multi-configurable, sectional and flatpack mechanism of their new Cocoon outdoor seating system for Carl Hansen (the secret is in the joints). Martin Bergmann of EOOS unveiled the studio’s new book ‘Designing Impact’ published by Lars Muller, while Knud Eric’s beloved German Shepherd, Polly, polished off the rest of our tea quietly in the background. Hugo Macdonald
A trip to Carl Hansen & Søn
Before the main event officially kicks off on Wednesday, I headed north to the island of Funen to the castle that is home of Knud Eric Hansen, the third generation managing director of Carl Hansen & Søn. Knud Eric took the reins of Carl Hansen from his brother in 2002, inheriting one of the world’s more significant furniture portfolios and 15 employees. Today there are 600 employees, an ever-expanding factory operation and an impressive apprenticeship program. Carl Hansen is one of Denmark and Europe’s modern manufacturing success stories. Hugo Macdonald