If last year’s Copenhagen Design Week suggested a growing appetite for new formats and audiences, this year’s edition shows that evolution gaining momentum. The attention surrounding independent offshoot Other Circle demonstrated that visitors were looking for more than a circuit of product launches and showroom visits; they were equally drawn to collaborative exhibitions, cultural programming and opportunities for genuine exchange. Rather than disrupting the established order, that energy seems to have expanded the conversation around what a design week can be.

The traditional pillars of 3daysofdesign remain firmly intact. Danish brands continue to mine their archives for reissues, while the clean lines and restrained palettes that have come to define contemporary Scandinavian design are still very much on display throughout the city. Yet even these familiar gestures increasingly intersect with questions of longevity, reuse and circularity. Sustainability emerges as a recurring theme across this year’s programming, particularly within a growing number of group exhibitions that explore alternative materials, production methods and approaches to consumption.

The festival itself is also experimenting with new ways of bringing people together. Among the most notable additions is a series of Long Table Dinners, drawing on the recent hospitality trend of design-minded dining pop-ups, which shifts the focus from product presentation to shared experiences and conversation.

That widening lens extends beyond the official festival. Independent group exhibitions are once again creating space for emerging voices and alternative perspectives, while a growing number of brands from adjacent industries are treating Copenhagen as a cultural platform in its own right. Companies like Aesop and Porsche are activating during the week, reflecting the extent to which design week has become a stage for lifestyle, hospitality and brand storytelling.

Below, we share what’s on our radar during next week’s jam-packed celebration of design.

Reissues Galore

2025 was a big year for reissues among local brands, and it seems 2026 will be no different. Alongside an exhibition of Danish design legends, Fredericia will release another of Nanna Ditzel’s pieces with the Trisse collection of solid oak tables. Originally developed in 1962 from a brief for children’s furniture, the intuitive piece is versatile enough to work as a stool or bedside table. Over at Montana, they’re celebrating the centenary of Danish designer Verner Panton with a limited anniversary edition of the 1971 Panton Wire table in vibrant Tangerine orange (shown at top). Equal parts storage and sculpture, the table is characterized by its lightness and modularity, making it equally well-suited to wall-mounted and floor-standing arrangements. “The Tangerine edition highlights the expressive potential of Panton Wire and shows how colour can define a space,” says Joakim Lassen, CEO of Montana Furniture. “With this limited release, we celebrate Verner Panton’s bold vision and his pioneering approach to colour.”

Beginnings & Endings by Tarkett

Flooring manufacturer Tarkett is teaming up with several big names this year to produce Beginnings & Endings, an exhibition that explores design through the lens of circularity. British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori will make his 3daysofdesign debut, taking over an entire room at Galleri Susanne Ottesen, using carpet as his medium. His installation forms part of a larger showcase curated by design futures consultancy TILT, which examines how design decisions shape a material’s lifespan and eventual reuse. Ilori’s contribution draws attention to Tarkett’s cradle-to-cradle carpet system, in which yarn and backing can be separated, regenerated and reintroduced into production after use. By foregrounding the material’s complete journey, the collaboration positions design as an active participant in building more regenerative systems.

VÆRKTØJ

Named for the Danish word for tool, this annual exhibition — founded in 2024 by Frederik Weber, Gustav Dupont, Jonas Trampedach, Kasper Salto and Michael Antrobus — unpacks how ordinary implements shape both design process and outcome. This year’s edition will focus on the sewing machine, showing how this humble tool can be used to create everything from furniture to lighting. The results vary dramatically. Erwan Bouroullec’s Avalanche Sofa, for instance, features Tyvek upholstery draped haphazardly over a wooden base. The more structured Enfold Chair by Lærke Ryom, meanwhile, is conceived as a tailored garment, as if a silk button-up blouse has been fitted around its sleek metal frame. Sia Hurtigkral’s work is in a category all its own, repurposing maritime textiles into a swing-slash-hammock that leverages the construction methods used in sailmaking.

Material Matters Copenhagen

Returning to 3daysofdesign for its second edition, Material Matters Copenhagen brings together 19 exhibitors at Ukraine House, all united by a shared interest in material innovation and circular thinking. The international lineup spans makers, manufacturers and researchers working across wood, mycelium, bacterial cellulose and agricultural waste, reflecting a growing emphasis on material intelligence as both a design tool and environmental imperative. Highlights include the American Hardwood Export Council’s immersive timber exhibition Wood for the Trees, which follows the production of hardwood timber from the forest to the finished product, and exhibitors exploring everything from rice husk composites to olive pit biomaterials.

Other Circle

Last year, cross-disciplinary platform Other Circle emerged as one of Copenhagen Design Week’s buzziest group shows, showcasing everything from balloons full of fermentation to collectible design objects courtesy of Adorno. The sophomore edition promises to be equally inspiring (and is on through Saturday, June 13, meaning you don’t have to sacrifice a slot on your jam-packed 3daysofdesign itinerary to check it out this time). Like the group shows it is inspired by, Other Circle has drawn some heavy hitters this year, including Nike, which is showing the installation that it debuted with Naked Space at Milan Design Week. Of course, there will also be some good old-fashioned eye candy as well, including the FIELD STUDIES collection of rugs by Jamie Bush, inspired by aerial landscapes, and Palet’s strikingly graphic tiles. The show also promises to be a hotbed for circular design, with exhibitors including Bali’s Wasted, “a circular, community-driven initiative that transforms plastic waste into valuable resources,” and Offsite, an Eindhoven-based design label that repurposes waste from factories, construction sites and production environments as stunning furnishings.

Earth | Tree at Copenhagen Contemporary

Okay, this one isn’t technically part of Copenhagen Design Week, but while you’re in town, you’d be wise to check out this installation by Kengo Kuma & Associates at Copenhagen Contemporary (on through February 2027). Inspired by the Japanese concept of komorebi, the effect of dappled sunlight through tree canopies, the exhibition transforms a former industrial hall with a handcrafted suspended Douglas fir structure. The wood, courtesy of Danish manufacturer Dinesen, was processed in collaboration with the Danish Troldkær School as part of an initiative to support students with special needs. Together with brick from Petersen Tegl and lighting by Anker & Co, the installation forms a rich architectural environment that foregrounds the similarities between Japanese and Danish design. “Collaboration with artists is at the heart of Dinesen. Through our wood, they bring visions to life, infusing our work with unique stories, identity, and an expanded mythology,” explains Hans Peter Dinesen, Brand Director at Dinesen and fifth-generation owner. “Art is a space where we are challenged and can connect to something greater than ourselves.”

Stay tuned for more 3daysofdesign coverage online and in our Fall 2026 issue!