The Monocle Minute
On Design

Hot off the press from 3 Days of Design, this week’s newsletter traverses the Danish furniture manufacturer taking cues from its forebears to +Halle’s ultra-modern vision for office aesthetics. We also settle in at design-led brand Muuto’s outdoor seating installation and meet the duo behind Toogood X Frama’s colourful collaboration. First up, we hear from Nic Monisse with his top takes from day one of the fair.

Danish furniture company Carl Hansen & Søn is celebrating its rich heritage with an exhibition, Shaping the Future, at its Copenhagen flagship shop. The show resurrects several significant designs by major Danish modernists from the company’s archive. Among them is architect and designer Kaare Klint’s 1930s Spherical Bed, which has been skilfully updated by Carl Hansen & Søn’s cabinet-makers and apprentices. “We worked on it for six months using traditional machines,” says cabinet-maker Jeppe Ravn. “We also had Klint’s original drawings and sketches as a reference so we could respect his proportions when we were expanding the bed from a single to a double.”

Other pieces on show include the relaunched Opala and Pendant metal lighting series by Hans J Wegner and Henning Koppel’s circular Bubi light. Crucially, it’s not all an exercise in nostalgia. The idea of moving the design conversation forward remains a priority for the company. This week contemporary industrial designer Rikke Frost is launching her new RF1905 coffee table and the RF1904 lounge chair, while Austrian design studio Eoos is taking over the Carl Hansen & Søn courtyard with new outdoor furniture.
Visit Carl Hansen & Søn at Bredgade 21-23 during 3 Days of Design. carlhansen.com

“We established +Halle because there was so much boring office furniture out there,” says Martin Halle Hisdal, the Danish furniture manufacturer’s CEO. “We saw an opportunity to make it sexy.” As CEO, he has spent much of the past decade responding to this brief. His latest project is no exception. Designed by London-based studio Industrial Facility, the Tulipan (pictured bottom)is a soft, small private enclosure consisting of an in-built desk and a seat-cum-door. It will be launched at 3 Days of Design.

It’s a striking work that breaks the mould of stuffy office furniture. Though the Tulipan’s footprint is no bigger than that of a small desk, the user can close the seat and door components to create a semi-secluded booth that’s ideal for focused work. Significantly, and unlike other cubicle-like spaces designed for privacy, it has an open top, ensuring that the user doesn’t feel isolated from the office environment. “It’s for when you want to get some work done in a defined space without having to leave or be removed from the office.”
Visit +Halle at Kattesundet 4 during 3 Days of Design. plushalle.com; industrialfacility.co.uk

Danish furniture and homeware firm Frama has collaborated with UK design and fashion brand Toogood for 3 Days of Design. The result is a bold, colourful and site-specific installation in Frama’s HQ and accompanying café, Apotek 57. It features new tables and artworks that provide a striking setting for enjoying a coffee and a bite to eat. To complement the installation, a capsule collection has also been unveiled, with highlights including a hand-painted edition of Toogood’s Roper Gilet and sculptural wall hooks. To find out more about the partnership and the art of a good collaboration, we spoke to Frama’s founder and creative director, Niels Strøyer Christophersen, and Faye Toogood.

How do your studios align creatively?
Niels Strøyer Christophersen: The collaboration happened organically. Our studios are similar in size and we share a lot of values. But we’re also very different because we are trying to convey meaning in our work that’s personal and specific to who we are.

Faye Toogood: There’s a shared dedication to pursuing our own personal paths, irrespective of what everybody else is doing. In terms of the differences, Frama has a rigour and an attention to detail that we admire, despite the fact that at Toogood we tend to rip up the rule book and start again with every project.

What’s the benefit of a collaboration like this?
NSC: These cross-disciplinary collaborations that bring together design, architecture, art and food in one space are significant because they encourage us to be curious about other fields. That’s something that can lead to more exciting partnerships and products in the future.

What’s the benefit of making a limited number of more personalised or handmade products?
FT: As a society, we keep producing new things for a world that probably doesn’t need any more. So we should ask ourselves: what will connect people and make them want to hold on to these objects for longer? I believe that it’s about revealing the human hand and having its presence felt in products. That would make us want to look after things.

Visit Toogood X Frama at Fredericiagade 57 during 3 Days of Design.

Started in 2019 by a group of graduates from Copenhagen’s design school, Ukurant is a platform for young designers that promotes new and experimental approaches. “It was a result of conversations that we had about entering the design industry,” says the group’s co-founder, spatial designer Kamma Rosa Schytte. For this year’s 3 Days of Design, the group put together Ukurant Unwrapped, an exhibition featuring the works of 19 designers that span 11 nationalities. The showcased designs, selected through an open call earlier this year, highlight a diverse range of disciplines and ways of working with materials and surfaces.

The installation is themed around the economics of becoming a designer. It aims to raise awareness and spark discussions about how young practitioners can establish more economically sustainable practices. It addresses questions such as how to price work, time and skills, and examines how the industry can support and promote them. “We want to start a conversation about the challenges in the industry,” says Schytte. “And 3 Days of Design offers us the perfect platform to do that.”
Visit the Ukurant showcase during 3 Days of Design at Frederiksholms Kanal 28A.ukurant.com

In Copenhagen’s city centre, just off the busy Østergade, Muuto is opening a leafy, secluded courtyard to the public throughout 3 Days of Design. Here, the design brand is inviting people to discover Settle, its new range of outdoor seating by Norwegian design duo and longtime Muuto collaborators Anderssen & Voll. Visitors can also enjoy the brand’s exploration of neuroaesthetics – specifically, the beneficial effects that nature and natural materials can have on our wellbeing.

Over a coffee or a snack, you can make the most of the soft outdoor seating that combines tubular steel with wooden armrests and is available as an armchair or a two- or three-seater. The quick-drying, rain-resistant upholstery comes in taupe, dark-green and grey colourways that also give the overall design a sense of calm and comfort. As 3 Days of Design promises a busy schedule, we would recommend taking a moment to relax on these couches. Now here’s hoping for some sun.
Visit Muuto’s showroom and courtyard at Østergade 36-38 and Muuto Store at St Regnegade 12 during 3 Days of Design.muuto.com

Expert craftspeople from Denmark and Sweden are busy soaping wood, upholstering chairs and sewing leather as part of Federica’s Crafting the Present exhibition. “These people are incredibly skilled,” says Rasmus Graversen, who took over as the third-generation CEO of the Danish brand in May. “It’s a privilege to work with them. We work in close dialogue with our craftspeople to keep developing and improving our heritage but also to avoid stagnation.”

Visitors to the firm’s expansive showroom will be able to discover the intricate processes behind three of its most recognisable pieces: the Ox Chair by Hans J Wegner and the 2204 Wing and Spanish Chairs by Børge Mogensen. Danish designer Maria Bruun, who has previously contributed to the brand’s catalogue with the Pioneer and Islets collections, curated the exhibition. “Furniture makes up the scenography of our lives,” says Bruun. “My hope is that people will find a new way to connect with these pieces and their handmade beauty because design is ever present.”
Visit the Fredericia Showroom at Løvstraede 1 during 3 Days of Design.fredericia.com