2nd June 2018

Ain’t nothing like a Dane

Last week Copenhagen was even more of a design hotbed than normal, with annual festival 3daysofdesign taking over the city’s streets and showrooms between 24 and 26 May.

On the ground was Pil Bredahl, the expert responsible for bringing together Adorno’s Copenhagen collection, which is due to launch the second iteration in August. Somewhere between an online gallery, marketplace, and design-savvy city guide, Adorno invites curators like Pil from cultural hubs around the world to select the most exciting one-of-a-kind and limited-edition design pieces for each collection. Through Adorno’s online platform, collectors can then snap up these under-the-radar finds directly from designers.

Pil herself trained as a furniture and product designer and was part of the Scandinavian female-only design group Kropsholder, which was founded in the 1990s. Since then she has been working with female migrants to explore how design can be used as a tool for integration, she set up FairTradeDesigners.com to encourage more responsible design and manufacturing processes and earned an MA in Design Theory, writing her dissertation on design and sustainability. Basically, we’ve got a bit of a crush.

Hot off the heels of 3daysofdesign, we caught up with Pil to get her take on the week’s best events on the Danish design landscape.

Fair Trade Designers.

What makes Copenhagen Design Week distinct from other festivals like Milan, LDF or Stockholm Design Week?

I think the Danish Design Festival and 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen are special because there is this very local atmosphere but mixed with an international design professionalism.

 What events were you most looking forward to this year and what made them special?

I have to mention Design X Change at Designmuseum Denmark. Designers, craftsmen, thinkers, companies and citizens met to share their knowledge and passion for a sustainable future.

There were lots of creative workshops, talks, and activities for everyone.  Denmark has an esteemed design history but how would you characterise the scene right now?

The Danish design scene right now is sparkling. I have so much faith in the new generation. The young Danish designers are focused on presence, the environment and the future. They do not care about status design, they'd rather invent a new cool material or design something that makes a positive difference. We have found our Danish design DNA again after some slow years since the golden age of the 1950s.

Design X Change at Designmuseum Denmark.

How does the Adorno Copenhagen collection echo this change?

The designers in the new Adorno collection, which will launch in August, reflect this new generation. There’s experiments with form, function and materials. Everything is being reviewed and the designers are focusing on the artistic and unique. I'm still in love with all the works and cannot yet choose a favourite.

We have 24 hours in Copenhagen. What things would it be near criminal to miss?

I think you should stop by Designmuseum Danmark and Please Wait To Be Seated’s showroom. The latter has expanded its collection with many new designs. This year at 3daysofdesign it had an intimate live concert with the artist Oh Land. Afterwards, stroll down Strøget to see the live workshops in Mads Nørrgaard's windows.

If this has piqued your interest in how Adorno collaborates with emerging and established designers, click here to read an interview with founders Kristian Snorre and Martin Clausen.

TODAY walnut straight lines by Gitte Winther.

Vaso Carrara small, marble edition by ORTHODOX.

“Geomorfologi,” dark with spikes by Gurli Elbækgaard.

“NOBU” chair by Rasmus Warberg.