Story: Danish Design Destinations

Scandinavian design is equated to functional and warm forms, a democratic social agenda and classic furniture and household objects. When in Copenhagen, you have a great opportunity to see many Scandinavian design classics from Denmark in their original context, and experience first-hand the self-confident — and perhaps slightly serious — atmosphere that they seem to have sprung from; an attitude that, perpetuated from the mid-century but with added humor, makes for a new wave of young Danish designers today. Ah yes, and you can pick up some cool things to gift or to grace your home along the way.

The Radisson SAS hotel, next to the main train station, is the first Copenhagen skyscraper and still rises high above the surrounding buildings. The iconic SAS hotel was an exercise in mid-century integrated design. From 1956 to 1961, famous Danish architect Arne Jacobsen designed nearly everything you can see today: not only the building, but the rooms, furniture, and silverware as well, right up to the door handles. However, if you expect something grandiose straight out of a set for a James Bond evil genius lair, like I did, the lobby may be a little underwhelming at first: it’s small. But stick around, sit down (in one of the fabulous Egg or Swan chairs that dot the lobby) and take it in, and see how it works on a human scale. No showboating here: metal, glass and marble make for a modest show of accomplished design. It is difficult to imagine the impact this International Style building and its design had on the denizens of Copenhagen when finished in the 1960’s, although Jacobsen once famously quipped: “Many people thought it was a terribly ugly building, and many may still think so. At least, it came in first when they held a competition for the ugliest building in Copenhagen.” Non-period changes to the hotel make it less of a retro experience today, but the hotel has recently reinstated one room (room 606) in near original style. Book in advance.

A short walk from the SAS hotel along coble-stoned streets lined with pastel-colored houses to the university quarter sits the neoclassical Vor Frue Kirke. This is where I stumbled on a strikingly elegant small chair, made of brushed stainless steel and brown leather. Not having seen it before, my host told me of the origin of this modest design, Paul Kjaerholm’s 1960 bespoke PK9 chair was designed for the existing environment of the church. Even more so than Jacobsen’s pieces, it doesn’t appear to want to impress as much as it want to convince. It is the possibility of discoveries like this that make it a joy to walk around the center of Copenhagen. The one chair I saw was bolted to the floor of the Kirke, for which it was originally designed, perhaps in order not to tempt design junkies?

Since the heydays of Danish Modern – with its human, softer take on Modernism – from the 1940’s through 1960’s, the use of the common denominator of “Scandinavian” or “Danish” for design has fallen in some disuse, as it is often seen as too limited and nation-centric. Yet, despite Danish design perhaps not being as singularly recognizable as it once was, the term is again in use today to cover design by the young Danes. In fact, the Danish Design Center, on the northern side of the Tivoli Gardens, is devoted in part to, you guessed it, “New Nordic” design from Denmark. Although the modern day items are often more fun, and sometimes more poetic, than the somewhat serious pieces from the last century, they seem to share the same humanist values. If the modern pieces are not as understated as the mid-century designs, they are certainly not over the top. Not quite diminutive, the Danish Design Center isn’t large. In its small space, it hosts rotating exhibitions focused on furniture and object design, plastic art and culture. The museum also devotes permanent space to a 20th century time line on design, both Danish and international, and some more permanent space to a store (FLOWmarket) where you can stock up on empty vessels and containers (cans, milk cartons and the like) that may or may not contain things to give you flow, such as 200 grams of inner calmness, 50 ml of good vibes, or 200 doses of identity finders.

Perhaps seeing all these evergreen and fresh new designs might make you want to take some home. Where Poul Henningen’s 1957 seminal PH Artichoke lamp, custom designed for the Copenhagen Langelinie restaurant (a stone’s throw from the Little Mermaid statuette), might not fit your carry-on (or budget for that matter), you might want to pick up something smaller instead, like perhaps a Thermal Carafe from Stelton. Designed back in 1977 by Erik Magnussen in stainless steel, this vacuum jug has been in continuous production ever since. Designed for a corporate environment, with 29 colors available today it can look as good in your own home as in the Lego boardroom. It is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and of many Danish households. (And of mine, I brought home a red and a white one.) If you head North by North-East from the Danish Design Center, you can easily spend the rest of the day hitting all the shops: large (such as Royal Shopping) along the Strøget for the classics, and small, around the Rådhusstræde and to the west of the Strøget around the university for the new and fresh things.

If design fatigue hasn’t yet fully set in, do go and take in the entrance and lobby of the Skt. Petri, near the university. Opened in 2003, the Skt. Petri is bright and colorful. (And design aside, the beds are heavenly, and despite the hotel being large, the service is friendly and personal.) Otherwise, consider hitting one of the Skt. Petri’s two bars to unwind: downstairs Blanc is more relaxing, a little bit like a library with its brown and cream tones; upstairs Blue is more for seeing and being seen, martini in hand. And with that martini in hand, think of it, the people you see go by heading home, are likely to have included in their homes on or more of the design pieces you saw today.