DEPARTURES CULTURE
DEPARTURES CULTURE INTERIOR MOTIVES ENTER THE HELLE MARDAHL STUDIO in Copenhagen and you’ll step into a vibrant new world. It’s like a candy factory with airy rooms and neat tables and plinths displaying glass objects so delicious you could almost eat them: wonky cocktail glasses with bubblegum-pink stems and decorative rounded jars in shades of deep grapefruit orange, contrasted by soft mint. Some of the walls are stained in deep ruby red and duck-egg blue. The objects inside the space are completely removed from the minimalist aesthetic and classic pieces for which Denmark has become known – the smooth wooden Wishbone Y-back chairs by Hans J Wegner, the shiny silver pieces by Georg Jensen and the rounded leather egg chairs by Arne Jacobsen. These iconic, timeless pieces have made Denmark synonymous with design, cementing its influence on a global scale. “It’s a strong heritage and a proud part of our aesthetic,” says Helle Mardahl, the artist responsible for the playful glass objects. But some say the country’s strong, minimalist aesthetic has also perpetuated monotonous and predictable design trends. So much so that it has driven the design world into a rut. “At times I think it has resulted in designers and artists trying to recreate the classics rather than forging new ones,” she says, adding: “We have had a lot of years dominated by grey and beige.” Inside homes, shops and restaurants across Copenhagen, it’s easy to see that Danes tend to favour more muted aesthetics. It’s not uncommon to see white layered PH 5 Louis Poulsen pendant lamps hanging above wooden tables fringed with Y-back chairs on light wood herringbone floors and softwhite curtains draping over windows. Classic but always almost lacking in colour. Textile designer Arne Aksel, who launched his curtain business in 2017, which creates drapes in shimmery red and sunny yellow corduroy, thinks the nation has a fear of colour. He calls it “the Scandinavian depression”. Not only does it “lack in joy”, he says, but it alters the light. “When people have grey curtains then the light will be grey,” he explains. “But if you have pink, there will be more light in the room.” 44 Textile designer Arne Aksel (above) shows off his brightly hued fabrics at this year’s 3 Days of Design event in Copenhagen (left), arneaksel.com © ARNE AKSEL
© JORE COPENHAGEN “We are in the middle of an era in which people are willing to challenge conventions, celebrate individuality and pursue originality” But the country hasn’t always resisted colour. What many might not know is that Denmark does have a brief history of embellishment. “In the 1960s, we had colours everywhere,” says Aksel. He references great Danish creatives such as Verne Panton, a furniture and interior designer known for using bold jewel-box tones. “You’d see pictures from the 1950s and 1960s in which there was so much more colour!” he exclaims. But the days of groovy purple carpets and trippy silver chandeliers were short-lived, and around 30 or so years ago, everyone retreated back to muted tones. “People started having interior designers who were afraid of not doing the same thing as all the others,” he muses. “New Nordic is a kind of social control. [And] people copied [the New Nordic aesthetic] in their homes,” says Aksel who, at one point, found himself living in a grey and beige apartment just like everybody else. When he finally started dabbling in colour, he questioned whether he had bad taste. Now he’s seeing consumers starting to get tired of samey design offerings. “We have been on cruise control for 20 or 30 years. I think people just can’t take it any more!” he Josephine Reich (above), founder of homeware label Jore Copenhagen, whose handpainted creations include fanciful ceramic tableware (top) says, adding that the younger generations who promote diversity are driving this change. “We are in the middle of an era in which people are willing to challenge conventions, celebrate individuality and pursue originality,” says Mardahl. Indeed, Copenhagen’s fashion scene has already evolved significantly in the past few years, with brands such as Ganni, Stine Goya and Cecilie Bahnsen, pioneering with billowing dresses in 45 DEPARTURES
