The Mindcraft Project 2024 reveals elasticity between craft, utility and Danish design

As autumn settles over Copenhagen, The Mindcraft Project unveiled its 2024 edition at the Kvadrat showroom on September 26, overlooking the dark waters of Nordhavn's industrial shoreline in Denmark. This year marks a significant shift as The Mindcraft Project hosts its first long exhibition until October 25, 2024. The union of 'mind' and 'craft' encapsulates the project's spirit, where experimental, conceptual design and material mastery intertwine.

Curated by designer Maria Bruun, this year's showcase features intriguing, self-expressive objects—from a chair draped in leather to a glowing, layered tapestry—straddling the delicate line between art and functionality, while celebrating master craftsmanship infused with poetry. The ongoing design exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark, unfolds as an evolving landscape of contemporary craft, where each expressed design holds a whisper of its maker's intent.

Since its inception in 2008, The Mindcraft Project has become a cornerstone for Danish design and craft, particularly through its annual exhibitions during Milan Design Week from 2008 - 2018. These garnered considerable critical acclaim and were celebrated for their thematic content and the diversity of the participants. Focused on quality, craftsmanship and the multi-layered narratives behind each endeavour, these proffered a range of projects, from one-off works to experimental prototypes ready for production.

In 2020, the format shifted entirely online due to the pandemic and while last year witnessed the return of a physical exhibition in the Danish capital, it only lasted a day. However, this year, The Mindcraft Project takes on a fresh form, extending its physical and digital reach via a longer exhibition format bridging both realms.

Drawing together the conceptual and commercial aspects of design has always been at the core of The Mindcraft Project. Anders Kongskov and Kristian Kastoft, co-founders of the Copenhagen Design Agency and the co-directors of The Mindcraft Project, have pursued this since the inception of the design event at Milan Design Week in 2008, by spotlighting Danish designers' impeccable craft and visionary approach to functional art standing distinct in a landscape dominated by fast-paced commercial design.

This meeting point indicates both sides fine-tuning their practices, giving commercial brands a glimpse of what design can become when freed from the constraints of mass production while designers gain insight into the demands of creating for a broader audience. It is a mutual elevation, where the experimental informs the practical and vice versa.

As a designer who exhibited her work in The Mindcraft Project twice before, Bruun understands its essence well. As its curator this year, she navigates the delicate balance between collectible design and commercial production, drawing from her experience in both realms. "Several Danish companies have historical experience and skill in incorporating craft into their production apparatus. Maybe it's a question of reawakening the urge, facilitating the dialogue and meeting between the two," she mentions in an exclusive interview with STIR. She hopes that this year's edition will reveal "the elastic band between furniture design and craft," relaying how a designer can create collectible pieces and works suited for mass production simultaneously.

Bruun's curation taps into the material expertise of each participating designer—masters of wood, glass, ceramics, metal and textile. Underlining the relationship between craft and conceptuality, the exhibition this year showcases contemporary Danish craftsmanship at its finest, emphasising both the skill involved in each piece and the conceptual underpinnings that push the boundaries of how we perceive and experience our interiors. She has designed an inviting exhibition space within Kvadrat's showroom, where a digital introduction greets visitors. The physical objects here are strategically obscured behind dividers made from Kvadrat's classic curtain line Time Recycled, wherein each project gets revealed gradually as guests navigate the space, a setup that creates a rhythm to the viewing experience, inviting deeper engagement with the 10 designers and their showcased works.

As a media partner with The Mindcraft Project 2024, STIR delves into its 10 commissioned projects exploring fresher interpretations of Danish design and craft through experimental, contemporary and daring expressions.

Cursive by Akiko Ken Made

Conceived by Akiko Ken Made, by the designer duo Akiko Kuwahata and cabinetmaker Ken Winther, Cursive embodies the compelling dance between strength and elasticity inherent in ash wood. This stunning bench features strips of steam-bent ash woven together in an intricate pattern, evoking a cushion-like softness that draws the eye and soothes the spirit. Resting on an elegant A-frame base and a solid ash central spine, each rib is a testament to the artisans' skill, combining minimal thickness with remarkable resilience as "a bench in wood that is air-thin and at the edge of what is possible," as the designers put it. Visitors experience a gentle sway as they settle onto the bench, a subtle movement that fosters the unique bond between object and individual.

Chandelier by Alexander Kirkeby

Bruun declares that Kirkeby, a glassblower and designer, "shows what a craftsperson in 2024 looks like, compared to an older generation of makers". Marking his first foray into mixed materiality, Chandelier reimagines the classic elegance of Venetian glasswork through a contemporary lens. Making each piece of blown glass in his own glass studio and eschewing traditional moulds, Kirkeby's technique results in an asymmetrical form. Minimal internal components of steel, brass and aluminium allow the ethereal quality of glass to take centre stage, creating a lightness that enables the emitted light to dance and interact with each individual piece. Kirkeby mentions his "eagerness to explore scale and to combine materials. Glass has limitations in regard to this, and by combining it with steel, I can scale my design language as much as I want… in this context, glass becomes one piece of the puzzle."

Pylon by Frederik Gustav

Pylon, a series of modular floor lamps by the design duo Frederik Weber and Gustav Dupont, investigates light's infinite atmospheric potential within a space. With the ability to adapt from intimate low lamps to imposing architectural structures, Pylon's versatility is evident in its sleek design. Each lamp features four hand-sanded polycarbonate sheets that serve as a functional substructure and a diffuser for the exposed lighting diodes. The surface creates a trompe l'oeil effect, giving the impression that a textile component is integrated within the lighting design.

However, it is a masterful illusion created by the brushed polycarbonate. This unique treatment allows the light to diffuse in gentle waves, adding depth and texture that must be experienced in person to be fully appreciated. A single bent steel bracket ties the assembly together, merging industrial rawness with poetic repetition. When dormant, these lamp designs project a cold, almost brutal aesthetic, yet once illuminated, they transform into glowing columns of warmth.

Garments by Lærke Ryom

Garments presents two chair designs that feature a hollow steel frame, with foam blocks that effortlessly slide into place, secured by tension alone. The furniture designer then dressed these to embody simplicity and purpose, with upholstery that feels more like tailored fashion. Wrapped in leather, the Zipper Chair mimics the feel of a loose leather jacket, giving an impression of casual ease.

In contrast, the Bow Chair is draped in canvas that fits neatly, adorned with black ribbons, adding a tailored finish. This contrast between the two furniture designs explores upholstery as more than just functional—it becomes a statement of form, revealing a subtle sophistication in the way each piece is dressed more than merely upholstered. With an emphasis on circular design principles, Ryom's approach to design is not playful or superfluous—it is precise and intentional, offering new interpretations of materiality and form.

Lost and Found by Marie Holst

Textile designer and weaver Marie Holst's Lost and Found captures the intricate storytelling of traditional Damask weavings, reimagined through technology and a contemporary design perspective. Using a manually operated digital loom, Holst blends reflective, glossy and matte yarns into a dynamic tapestry that shifts with the light. Much like classic Damask tablecloths, the project plays with the viewer's perception, transforming in colour and texture depending on the time of day as well as the viewing angle. This interplay of shiny and matte surfaces evokes the passing of time, with yarns that glow in artificial light and subtly darken under natural illumination.

Lost and Found suggests an artefact unearthed after decades of wear, its once-pristine surface now interwoven with elements of nature—wildflowers, weeds and snails—imbued with a sense of time and decay. Holst's use of a restricted palette of grey, beige and black shades focuses the viewers' attention on the light, depth and texture rather than colour. The metallic sheen of the textile design, combined with its silky yet weighty texture, conjures the sense of an artefact from another realm—something plucked from a historical fantasy, where magic and time have woven their own narrative into its threads.

Vessel #2543 and Vessel #2545 by Morten Løbner Espersen

These vessels by ceramist Morten Løbner Espersen offer a meditation on form, repetition and the alchemy of glaze. The classic vessel shape becomes a canvas for Espersen's unpredictable glazing, where tactile surfaces are transformed by fire and chance. In Vessel #2543, the vivid orange glaze appears to melt down its form, pooling and interacting with cool tones of white and grey, creating an almost volcanic intensity. In contrast, Vessel #2545 is dark and elemental, its cracked black surface recalling the depth and stillness of the earth. While the product designs share a familiar silhouette, each wheel-thrown stoneware piece reveals its distinct character through the glazing process—a moment of magic when the kiln reveals its secrets.

Untitled Object for Storage by Sigurd Nis Schelde

A seemingly industrial shelf structure unveils intricate, carefully cast metal figures upon closer inspection, granting an occult beauty to the Untitled Object for Storage. The delicate custom tin connectors that suspend the ornamental cast metal components create tension, suggesting a struggle as if they are threatening to pull the entire assembly apart—like skin taut against fish hooks. Through this sensual interplay, the product designer evokes a complex range of emotions, from intrigue to a sense of unease, hinting at a provocative relationship between fragility and strength, structure and chaos. Such dualities invite viewers to engage with the work on multiple levels, provoking contemplation about the nature of beauty and vulnerability in contemporary design.

Slope Dining Table by Sofie Østerby

This table design beautifully conveys the importance of craftsmanship while showcasing a distinct shape and form. Inspired by the way people digitise topographical maps, Østerby reinterprets the two-dimensional back into the physical, with each component of the Slope dining table representing a 'slice' of raw terrain. Often working with burned and volcanic materials, she discovered this thermo-treated ash wood for this piece. Upon closer inspection, the genuine colour of the wood may seem surprising, yet it reflects its true essence. The fine grain and consistent colour reveal the delicate variations in shape, while the uneven slanted edges of the wooden furniture encourage users to interact with each natural element.

Semble by Stine Mikkelsen

As visitors enter the exhibition, they first encounter Semble, a bench by designer/maker Stine Mikkelsen featuring graceful curves made of lush ash wood. This piece transforms the humble wooden dowel, amplifying its scale and purpose to create a functional seat and a striking focal point. Here, Mikkelsen celebrates the dowel's role, bringing it to the forefront instead of relegating it to the background of flat-pack furniture. The bench's elongated seating area appears to float effortlessly atop two oversized dowel legs, a feat made possible only through Mikkelsen's mastery of traditional timber turning combined with high-tech CNC techniques. The soft hue of the ash wood, with its inviting tactile quality, accentuates the material's natural beauty, suggesting that this form is the essence of what the wood was meant to become.

Carcass Chair by Victor Miklos Andersen

The Carcass Chair is the striking result of Andersen's exploration of digital innovation and traditional craftsmanship. The designer and artist developed it in collaboration with Italian designer Antonio Davanzo, shifting between conventional sculpting methods. Carcass reflects the union of method and madness in modern furniture making. Its skeletal framework, sand-cast in aluminium, resonates with echoes of mid-century classics such as Hans J. Wegner's Ox Chair, as it ventures into the digital realm.

Integrating 3D-printed plastic, foam and rubber inserts forms a fluid structure, each curve appearing as an organic extension of the material. Finished with a high-gloss automotive paint that showcases a gradient of colour, the Carcass Chair serves as a canvas for Andersen's ongoing dialogue with the legacy of Danish design masters. In his quest to redefine the role of the contemporary craftsman, Andersen created a chair that is as much a sculptural statement as a functional object. The design unfortunately could not be physically present for the show's opening due to a logistical misadventure. However, visitors will hopefully be able to view this piece from next week, an addition worth waiting for.

The union between material mastery and contemporary design reveals itself in nuanced layers within the showcase at Kvadrat’s Nordhavn showroom, inviting visitors into a dialogue between craft, concept and just as importantly, commercial viability.

Bruun welcomes the decision to hold an extended physical exhibition for The Mindcraft Project 2024, offering a more profound engagement with each exhibit and allowing the intricate details of each work to sink in fully. To her, this connection is vital. "As a designer, I rarely get the luxury to meet the end user, but this is what sparks the emotion," she tells STIR. For her, the moment when craftsmanship meets real life unearths an understanding beyond the conceptual. "Every part of this industry—not every part, but a large part—being represented through materials and approach… and I think these 10 pieces hit the bullseye," she continues. The meeting of Danish craft and industrial design is essential to The Mindcraft Project 2024 and Bruun's curation draws that line with precision, embracing both the experimental and the everyday.

The Mindcraft Project is on view from September 26 - October 25, 2024, at the Kvadrat Showroom in Copenhagen, Denmark.