Of moments and making: Projects at 3daysofdesign 2026 centring the present

We exist in impatient times. Attention is currency. We crave immediate gratification, and a somewhat legible social media presence ensures we are served that on digital platters. It has inevitably shaped how we move through the world, how we consume and consequently, how we create. It is this manic system of mass production and mindless consumption specific to the contemporary design realm that 3daysofdesign 2026 yearns to dismantle, or at least, bring focused attention to. What evolution is taking place when design is asking for sustained attention as opposed to instant offerings, or does this still remain conjecture? Is slowing down a means to an end, or is it merely performative or rather impossible in this age? What does the present foretell?

Running from June 10 – 12, 2026, across Copenhagen, Denmark, 3daysofdesign returns for its 14th edition under the theme Make This Moment Matter. Conceived as an invitation to engage more consciously with the world around us, its programme encourages what organisers describe as a collective recalibration from ‘more’ to ‘meaningful’. Through design exhibitions, installations, collaborative projects, symposiums and design walks, 3daysofdesign 2026 aims to foreground presence, attention and meaningful encounters, asking visitors to pause amid the pace of contemporary life and consider what deserves their time, and perhaps why. The three-day celebration of design wants to examine how a sharpening can take place: of material awareness, processes, environments and the relationships that shape everyday experience. The theme ultimately advances a clear, urgent proposition: "Do something good that does something good," while suggesting, as 3daysofdesign CEO and managing director Signe Byrdal Terenziani notes, that "the new age will belong to those who master meaning".

While product design launches and showroom presentations remain central to the design festival, a significant roster of projects this year turns their attention to being ‘present’. They explore how objects come into being, how materials communicate, how rituals structure daily life and how contemporary design circulates through systems of exchange, participation and care. Together, they reveal a quietly resonant dimension of contemporary design practice.

STIR selects some of the most relevant design installations and exhibitions at 3daysofdesign this year that embody its spirit of Make This Moment Matter through making, reflection, presence and material attention.

Material Matters Copenhagen

Location: Ukraine House in Denmark, Gammel Dok, Strandgade 27B, 1401 København

Returning to Ukraine House for its second edition, Material Matters Copenhagen gathers 19 international exhibitors united by a shared interest in material innovation and responsible production. Spanning timber, mycelium, textiles, bacterial cellulose, recycled glass, rice husks and paper, the layered showcase foregrounds the intelligence embedded within materials themselves. Among its highlights is Wood for the Trees by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), developed with Mitre & Mondays and Benchmark, which traces the journey of hardwood timber from forest to finished product through an immersive woodland of tactility and audio-visual storytelling.

Elsewhere, PriestmanGoode presents Route to Zero, while Jo Andersson Studios unveils expressive hand-blown glass works. The Only Natural Awards showcases student projects that explore nature-based materials ranging from wool and leather to bamboo and traditional Urushi lacquer, as newcomers, including BIRDMIND and Crafting Plastics! x Studio LoopLoop, investigate low-carbon material futures and circular manufacturing and more.

Værktøj 3

Location: Gothersgade 30 1123 Copenhagen K

For its third edition at 3daysofdesign, Værktøj 3 places the tools of production at the centre of the conversation. As the press release notes, “This year, the sewing machine—a tool found in industrial and domestic settings—has been used, in part or in full, to create each piece in the exhibition.” Rather than simply foregrounding finished objects, the show, on view from June 4 – 12, 2026, considers the often-overlooked relationship between making and the tools that enable it, inviting visitors to reflect on how design instruments influence process, materials, forms and designer identity.

The showcase comprises new works namely: The Avalanche Sofa by Erwan Bouroullec; the Lomme lighting collection by Foster + Partners Industrial Design; the Soft Box lighting system by Frederik Gustav; the Taut Lamp by Jonas Trampedach; the Otto stool design by Kasper Salto; Louise Campbell’s Peep lamp designs; Lærke Ryom’s Enfold chair; the Plane lounge chair by Michael Antrobus; Pearson Lloyd’s BiCone which is shown as a pendant light and the EN Sejlmagers Stol chair by Sia Hurtigkarl.

This is Not a Forest

Location: Danish Architecture Center, Bryghuspladsen 10, 1473 Copenhagen

At the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), the sensory installation titled This is Not a Forest, developed by Archival, Dinesen Lab and Studio Pneuma, traces wood’s passage from forest ecosystem to architectural material through an immersive environment of timber, scent, light and sound. Drawing attention to the labour, time and ecological processes embedded within a single material, the venue-specific installation invites visitors to engage with wood as a living narrative instead of a commodity, one that unfolds through sensory experience, memory and care. As the official press release mentions, “From raw logs to crafted materials, the exhibition examines how wood is shaped through design and how a deeper understanding of its nature, value chain and craft can support more responsible ways of building.”

“With This is Not a Forest, we’re aiming to challenge prevailing views of what has value, and demonstrate how what we usually overlook can be transformed into architecture and design. Equally, the exhibition points to a shift in our field, where it’s not just about choosing the right materials, but about using and repurposing them far more,” says Kent Martinussen, architect and CEO, Danish Architecture Center.

KNIFE, FORK, SPOON 3.0

Location: Den Frie Udstilling Oslo Plads 1, 2100 Copenhagen Denmark

Los Angeles-based art and design gallery Martã and New York-based design curator Dung Ngo present, as part of Ark Journal's Design/Dialogue programme, KNIFE, FORK, SPOON 3.0, which commissions 12 contemporary flatware collections by practitioners including Misha Kahn, Jolie Ngo, Johnston Marklee, SO–IL, Marcin Rusak, Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Minjae Kim. Presented with generous support from Design Within Reach (DWR) and produced through stainless-steel 3D printing, the project revisits one of design's most familiar object typologies, exploring how emerging technologies can reshape daily rituals while opening new possibilities for production, customisation and material efficiency.

“These 12 designs are forward-thinking in both form and production technique, demonstrating that—like its social function—flatware is constantly evolving,” the curator explains.

Bread and Butter

Location: Sankt Peders Stræde 35A, 1453 Copenhagen

The second edition of Bread and Butter, curated by Ae office (Hee Choi and Myungnum Kim) and Pyeori Jung, turns its focus to bathing as a shared cultural ritual. Gathering 16 invited designers, the itinerant exhibition platform asks participants to translate personal routines and local traditions into pairs of objects that explore the social and sensory dimensions of bathing. Referencing practices ranging from Danish harbour bathing and Finnish saunas to Korean jjimjilbangs and Japanese onsens, the project examines how everyday rituals create spaces for reflection, care and collective experience.

“Just as ‘bread and butter’ signifies something essential and inseparable, the paired objects form functional, aesthetic and social relationships—quietly conveying each designer's experiences and contexts, while opening space for new connections and creative dialogue with local communities,” the project’s description relays. Some of the participating creatives include Daniel Schofield, Kasper Kyster, Large Medium Small, Siin Siin and more.

MÆRK — Perception Through Design

Location: Kvindernes Bygning/ Hotel Cecil, Copenhagen

Curated by Rikke Hagen, MÆRK investigates how design is experienced through touch, weight, texture and spatial presence. Bringing together 16 contemporary designers, including Ineke Hans, Elly Feldstein and Stine Aas, the exhibition unfolds across a material laboratory in the venue’s foyer and a main exhibition space in the historic Kvindernes Bygning’s concert hall, creating a dialogue between process and outcome. Sketches, samples and material experiments sit alongside works, which are resolved yet carry the marks of making, encouraging visitors to consider design as something sensed as much as seen.

“At a time when design is often mediated through images and digital platforms, MÆRK insists on the physical encounter. It proposes that material understanding and process are not secondary aspects of design practice, but its very core—integral to how meaning, value and experience are produced,” the official press release conveys. Several projects elevate overlooked materials such as construction waste, hemp and knot-rich timber into objects of sensory and cultural value, while others explore how surface, layering and interaction can shift perception from the visual to the bodily and spatial.

Objects of Desire

Location: Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2, 1213 Copenhagen

Curated by artist and designer Birgitte Due Madsen and presented within Thorvaldsens Museum, which opened in 1848 as Denmark’s first public museum, Objects of Desire gathers 20 international designers and makers whose practices foreground time, craft and material commitment, ‘practices that operate beyond mass production’. The show advocates for sustained attention, highlighting works that reveal the labour, expertise and care embedded within their making. Installed within the museum's historic interiors, it encourages visitors to slow down and engage more deeply with objects intended to endure. “Here, objects are given room to resonate, encouraging a mode of viewing that prioritises focus, reflection and appreciation,” the organisers state.

Objects of Desire features selected works from Due Madsen, Boris Berlin, Bureau Parso, Corkinho, Corpus Studio, Edoardo Lietti, Eric Landon, Francesca Torzo, Germans Ermičs, Kevin Hviid, Kim Richardt, Maison Arpelli, Rahee Yoon, Rasmus Fenhann, Sausset Leou, Seamus Kowarzik, Sofie Østerby, Uncommon Ancestor, VAVA OBJECTS and Vibeke Fonnesberg Schmidt.

SELL OUT

Location: Maria's Kiosk, Holbergsgade 9, 1054 Copenhagen

Literally staged inside a vending machine at Maria's Kiosk, SELL OUT by Bruno Pauli Caldas, Frederik Buchmann, Guillaume Gindrat and Massimo Scheidegger, the project “repositions the vending machine as a tool for cultural distribution and independent exchange”, as per the project’s description. Bringing together works by 26 designers, the showcase questions the economic systems through which design is circulated and valued. All profits can be brought directly and will go to the creators. Small in scale but expansive in implication, the SELL OUT show offers an alternative model of exchange rooted in accessibility, independence and direct engagement. “Come, buy, support your designer,” the organisers state.

Among the participants are Ted Synott, Silvio Rebholz, David Searcy, Julia Esque, Claire Lavabre, Anna Lena Wolfrum, Bianca Blair & Victoria Marquez, Gabriella Duck Graham & Luc Ferry, Maxim Lester, Tabatha Pierce Chedier, David Daniel Walsh, Massimo Scheidegger & Bruno Pauli Caldas and more.

Objects May Vary

Location: Nygårdsvej 19, 2100 Copenhagen

For its inaugural edition, Objects May Vary, a cross–disciplinary collaborative exhibition platform dedicated to experimental design, invites 23 independent and emerging designers to reinterpret a single object typology: the coat rack. Treating typologies as generative frameworks rather than constraints, the platform reveals how a familiar object can produce widely divergent responses in product and furniture designs, across material, functional and conceptual registers. Collectively, the works become a portrait of contemporary design thinking and its capacity to find new possibilities within the everyday.

“The platform is founded on the belief that typologies are not limitations but generative frameworks: recurring forms that, when questioned, open space for new ideas, materials and approaches,” the organisers explain.

A Prima Vista

Location: Gammel Strand 48, Copenhagen

Borrowing its title from the musical term for playing at first sight, A Prima Vista celebrates the arrival of spring and early summer through works that move fluidly between art, craft and collectible design. Organised by Helsinki-based concept gallery Lokal and The Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark, the design exhibition, curated by Lokal’s founder Katja Hagelstam, brings together practitioners whose work reflects a close relationship with nature, sustainability and small-scale production. Presented as a series of interconnected worlds, it concludes the 3daysofdesign 2026’s broader conversation around attentiveness with a meditation on seasonality, growth and the quiet rhythms that shape creative practice.

“In typical Lokal fashion, the group exhibition consists largely of worlds and work ensembles that combine the traditions of fine arts, crafts and design,” the makers share. Didi NG Wing Yin, Rasmus Palmgren, Riikka Piippo, Carlo Raymann, Saija Halko, Hemmo Honkonen, Sini Villi and Antrei Hartikainen are among the 17 creatives contributing to A Prima Vista.

Guesthouse by Vipp x mesura

Location: Vipp Campus Snorresgade 22, 2300 Copenhagen

At Vipp's Copenhagen campus, Barcelona-based studio mesura rethinks the guesthouse as a space for collective gathering rather than solitary retreat, continuing Vipp’s exploration of the guesthouse typology. Inspired by Danish midsummer traditions and informed by the social dimensions of hygge, the design installation transforms the brand's courtyard and garage through a vibrant textile landscape that coalesces furniture, architecture and social interaction. Through acts of sitting, gathering and play, the immersive setting explores hospitality as an experience shaped by participation, presence and shared rituals.

The guesthouse unfolds as “a spatial playhouse—an immersive installation inspired by the simple act of a picnic… The installation explores what defines a home away from home. In doing so, it transforms the guesthouse from a secluded retreat into a more communal, social environment—from guesthouse to playhouse”, the brand shares.

UKURANT Makes Room

Location: Fabrikken For Art & Design, Sundholmsvej 46, 2300 Copenhagen

Marking its fifth edition at 3daysofdesign this year, UKURANT Makes Room gathers 26 experimental works by emerging designers from around the world. Conceived as both an exhibition platform and creative community, UKURANT foregrounds design as an open-ended practice shaped by questioning, testing and material exploration rather than fixed outcomes. Displaying processes, experiments and material decisions alongside the finished works, the exhibition offers insight into the labour and care embedded within making.

Based on an open call and curated by UKURANT founders Kasper Kyster, Josefine Krabbe, Kamma Rosa Schytte and Lærke Ryom, the exhibition explores sensory qualities, new materials and alternative production methods while creating space for dialogue between established and emerging generations of designers. In doing so, it reflects 3daysofdesign 2026's broader call to engage more attentively with how design comes into being and the communities that sustain it. “Large paper podiums occupy the factory hall, serving as a blank canvas for each exhibited piece to unfold. Constructed from rented stage platforms, the spatial design responds to the scale of the space while limiting the use of new materials,” the press release elaborates.

Volum 01 at Other Circle

Location: Other Circle, Vermundsgade 40b, 2100 Copenhagen

Returning to Copenhagen for its second edition, Norwegian design platform Volum presents Volum 01: (extra)ordinary, a curated exhibition on view from June 10 – 13, 2026, that responds to the query: ‘What does it mean for an object to be ‘ordinary’ today?’ Curated by Norwegian-Italian creative studio Kråkvik & D’Orazio, the ‘interdisciplinary’ showcase, set within The Lab, a raw industrial building in Copenhagen, congregates 15 works that elevate everyday typologies—utensils, lamps, textiles and stools—through material experimentation, emotion and careful attention to use.

From Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng’s tin kitchen utensils named SABLÔN and Ida Hagen’s Soft Checks, a study of handwoven home textile to thebiodegradable bacteria-based Decay Design stool by Nicholas Michalov and the cast concrete Margen chair by Nicolai Ramm Østgaard, this parallel exhibition, presented as part of the Other Circle exhibition during 3daysofdesign, foregrounds the value of objects that quietly shape daily life while revealing the thought, care and material intelligence embedded within them. Volum extends this inquiry through a photographic campaign by Anne Valeur and movement-based performances by artist Aslak Aune Nygård, expanding on the balance of beauty and utility in ‘ordinary’ everyday objects.

Whether through material experimentation, sensory encounters, everyday rituals or alternative forms of design exchange, these projects seek to encourage visitors to engage more deliberately with the objects, processes and relationships on display at 3daysof design 2026. They reveal a thoughtful dimension of the festival itself—one where reflection, presence and material understanding and slow cultivation become crucial forms and generative scripts of design in themselves.