INSIGHT
The new Copenhagen cool
Few cities can beat the elegant style and visual pleasure that is woven into the fabric of Copenhagen, a place where even the most trivial is considered and designed well. This makes it easy to understand why the Scandi concepts of understated but stunning attention to detail have spread worldwide. So when visiting the city recently, we ask ourselves if Copenhagen still continues to challenge design thinking?
As always, there are lots of new things to see and discover in Copenhagen. The inspired conversion of the former post office into the Villa Copenhagen hotel included the T37 cocktail bar, with the focal point of the central bar featuring a belt display that references the belts on the postman’s bags, whilst the central foyer area felt like a real destination social meeting space with warmth and atmosphere provided by another home-grown brand, Morsoe.
Denmark also seems to have found a niche of beautiful, unique jewellery brands. One such was the Julie Nielsdottor store in Norrebro, a thriving area that hosts emerging brand alongside niche eateries. The store has been beautifully crafted and designed by Julie to reflect her brand universe with exquisite packaging, lovely, furnished, seating areas, and her workbench behind the service desk that highlights her craft and skill in creating unique pieces, commissions and the reworking of loved heirlooms into modern desirable pieces. Julie seems to embody her brand perfectly, feminine, creative, and with exquisite attention to detail.
Res Res was a beautifully restored space, the first retail store in Denmark, that is B Corp certified, with an emphasis on brands that share the owner’s passion for reuse and recycling, a real space of discovery with a sense of inspired curation and display, using all recycled and upcycled elements.
The Axel Arigato store on Pilestrade operates not only as a flagship store, but also an event and gallery space, reinforcing the role of store not only as transactional space, but as a window into the brand universe, minimalist architecture contrast with witty bulbous ‘bum’ shaped sculptural elements.
The Pure Greens Club café also managed to combine a minimalist aesthetic with curvy, generous seating that made the space feel warm, welcoming and comfortable, beautifully reflecting their offer of green gourmet food accessible and enjoyable.
© @puregreensclub
Nearby, the exquisitely sophisticated Marlene Birger store had a lovely, welcoming feeling with furnished elements that reflected the refined, sophisticated aesthetic of the brand.
The newly launched Labfresh store is testament to the ongoing success of what is a truly innovative brand, founded on sustainability and fabric technology to provide stain, wrinkle and odour free timeless classics.
Peder Oxe, a much loved restaurant in Grabrodretorv, one of the oldest squares in in the city, has a traditional style which is beautifully elegant and timeless. It has the stillness of a Hammershoi interior and lovely touches such as the rise and fall lamps, suspended over the tables and traditional outfits of the waiting staff, which all combine to create a uniquely Copenhagen experience. If you visit in the winter months do ask to sit close to the open log fire, truly hygge.
What we discovered is that experimentation in Copenhagen is ingrained in the way of life, it’s people and it’s design style. It seems that Danish design is continually moving beyond the boundaries of a traditionally minimalist singular Scandinavian aesthetic and embracing a new expressive playfulness, embracing colour, and organic forms which is energising the retail and hospitality landscape in this wonderful, effortlessly cool city.