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Architecture and design

The Danes are world famous for applied art and design within a broad spectrum of fashion, furnishing fabrics, furniture, silverware, porcelain and jewellery.

Design does not merely exist in itself – design reflects society. This applies to classic Danish design from the 1950s and 1960s as well as to Danish design in the new millennium. As society changes, so does its design. Today’s design concept has been expanded in a way inconceivable to the designers of earlier generations. The development has happened as the world changed, with new technologies, new economies, new demands and new opportunities. In the past, we exclusively regarded design as the shaping of products. That is no longer the case as the design concept has developed. Service design, interaction design and concept design are among the concepts which are placing new demands on the designers and their ability to collaborate and form networks with other professions. As in other industrialised countries, the Danish design profession is engaged in adapting to and taking part in this new reality.

Industrial design, furniture and aesthetic objects have always been one of Denmark's biggest exports. Today, Danish designers are still creating and producing some of the most usable and aesthetically pleasing objects for people all around the world.

Famous Danes include Børge Mogensen, Finn Juhl, Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm, Poul Henningsen and Verner Panton who are known throughout the world for their design classics.

World famous Danish architects including Arne Jacobsen, Jørn Utzon and Henning Larsen have helped put Denmark on the architectural world map.

For more information on Danish architecture visit:

Danish Design Centre

Danish Architecture Centre