From Vancouver Island to Copenhagen: Our Journey Through 3 Days of Design

Second coffee in hand, canal at our side, bicycles streaming past , that’s how 3 Days of Design began for me and my friend, interior designer Christi Rivard. We’d traded Vancouver Island for Copenhagen’s annual celebration of design, and quickly realized this wasn’t a frantic hunt for the newest thing, but a calm, grounded festival that unfolded at the pace of a bike ride, full of craftsmanship and material warmth.

The festival sprawls across the city, and getting to each exhibit often meant discovering a new neighbourhood along the way. In Østerbro, British lighting designer Lee Broom took over the former headquarters of the East Asiatic Company. Behind its creaky wooden door, the installation was soft and immersive: classical music, warm wall panelling, and lighting that glowed from within rooms and shipping crates alike.

Lighting installation by Lee Broom

Across the harbour in Refshaleøen, St. Leo presented mineral-rich plasters and paints inside a calm, upper-floor apartment, in collaboration with Norm Architects and Christian+Jade. Meanwhile, YSG Studio and Bankston Hardware brought a burst of Sydney irreverence to a vacant shop in the old town. Incense lingered, a DJ played, and visitors were encouraged to interact with hardware displayed on carpet-wrapped plinths. It felt more like a playful installation than a product showroom.

Interior design by Norm Architects and custom pendant light by designer Christian+Jade

Of course, the big Danish names held their ground. Carl Hansen & Søn offered a sanctuary of golden oak and archival reverence. HAY leaned into retail theatre at its buzzing headquarters. Both were crowded, but part of the joy was seeing how these local icons anchored a festival that blends the international with the intimate.

What you take from 3 Days of Design depends on your path. For us, the takeaway was a quiet current of craftsmanship and material warmth: soft, organic forms in wood, lacquer, and steel.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

We ended one day with a bottle of wine by the canal, picked up from a shop under a bridge, with two glasses loaned to us without hesitation. Maybe a little clichéd, but like much of the week, it felt like a reminder to slow down, to design with trust, and to find meaning in the everyday rituals we often rush past. For two friends who spend most days immersed in the details of interiors, it was the perfect note to end on.