A modular blue sofa with two white speakers sits in an industrial space, one of several copenhagen design week exhibitions.

Three Copenhagen Design Week Shows Find Humour and Second Lives in Discarded Materials

2026-11-12

Three group shows among the copenhagen design week exhibitions turned discarded materials into the week’s most talked-about objects. Deoron, Other Circle and Ukurant each drew crowds with a different mix of furniture, humour and craft. Together, they showed what a design exhibition can do when it refuses to play it safe.

Deoron: sensory design and reused materials

Alberto Pallaoro, an entrepreneur and industrial designer, launched Deoron in 2021 as a digital storefront. Its debut group show at Milan Design Week in 2025 marked the brand’s move into physical exhibitions. Among the copenhagen design week exhibitions this year, the company set up in an industrial space with a raw concrete shell on The Paper Island, on Copenhagen’s inner harbour.

Paper Island’s reuse of industrial space carries into home design too; this Danish kitchen transformed into a Paper Island haven shows a Copenhagen kitchen given a second life.

A visitor walks past furniture on wooden platforms among concrete columns. — A person walks through a Copenhagen group show, viewing furniture displayed on wooden platforms among concrete columns.

The show worked on the senses first. Local purveyor Frank filled the rooms with small-batch scents, and speakers from Alephalef played an ambient soundtrack. Folke Furniture lent a low cobalt sofa that also became a seat for continuing DJ sets, so visitors could sit and listen as the music ran.

A long table holds small objects under glass cloches beside two tall flower vases. — A long table displaying small items under glass cloches in a concrete room with two tall vases of flowers.

The strongest pieces made use of materials most designers would overlook. Studio Daae built a room divider from horizontal blinds. The designer p(erson)al made a task chair from industrial polyurethane tubing, which looked convincingly like glass.

A grey metal chair beside a white louvered screen and pink cushions. — A modern concrete interior, featuring a white louvered screen, a grey metal chair, and round pink cushions in an adjacent room.

A silver metal chair stands beside a rolling industrial task chair on concrete floor. — A modern, minimalist silver metal chair sits next to a rolling industrial-style task chair in a concrete space with scattered pink, tiered cushions.

A curved table made of stacked cardboard blocks displays chairs and small objects. — Curved display table made of stacked cardboard blocks, holding chairs and small objects at Copenhagen group show Other Circle

Other Circle: humour and a cross-disciplinary mix

Other Circle began in 2024. Svend Jacob Pedersen, co-founder of the Copenhagen design and architecture studio Spacon, is one of the team behind it. The group describes its work as a blend of art, design, fashion, food and music. For this year’s copenhagen design week exhibitions, it took over The LAB, a creative hub with photo studios in the Østerbro neighbourhood.

Blue and orange kettlebells sit on a tiered rack above matching exercise mats. — A tiered rack holds blue and orange kettlebells, with matching weights placed on corresponding exercise mats on the floor.

The exhibition was funny, and it was built that way on purpose. Porcelain maker KPM Berlin showed a kettlebell shaped like a teakettle. The Paris gallery Sausset Leou presented Chris Fusaro’s step stool, cast in bronze and painted blue. Ghanaian artist Paa Joe displayed a fantasy coffin modelled on a wafer bar, with an oversized USB socket. The piece makes a point about staying connected, even after death.

A KitKat-shaped bench with a red, yellow, and blue patterned backrest on display. — A KitKat-shaped bench with a red, yellow, and blue patterned backrest, displayed at Copenhagen group show Other Circle.

The most unexpected feature was the wall itself. Rough holes punched into the gallery wall turned out to be a working coffee and cocktail bar, run by Oatly, the plant-based beverage brand. A simple pause for a drink became part of the exhibition.

Design objects and furniture on white plinths in a large industrial exhibition space. — Various design objects and furniture pieces on white plinths arranged for Copenhagen group show Ukurant in a large industrial exhibition space.

Ukurant: craft, material and process on show

Four Copenhagen designers founded Ukurant in 2019: Kamma Rosa Schytte, Josefine Krabbe Munck, Kasper Kyster and Lærke Ryom. The collective focuses on experimental approaches to craft, materials and tradition. Among the copenhagen design week exhibitions, it presented its work in a former laundry facility.

Sculptures and furniture in a warehouse, with two tall woven tapestries on white pedestals. — Art installation in a warehouse space featuring sculptures, furniture, and two tall woven tapestries on white pedestals.

Ukurant showed how objects get made, not only the finished results. Sketches, material tests and process notes were displayed in the same spaces as completed works, so visitors could trace each idea from trial to final form. Montreal studio Atelier Fomenta stretched rubber over cylindrical supports to form a set of tables. Lasse Sylvest Lilleør’s 3D-printed lounger, built with additive manufacturing, has a curving frame that suggests an enlarged backbone. The Italian duo Controforma tested gravity in its Zenit floor lamp, sliding weights along a slender stem to bend it.

Sculptural objects, lamps, and furniture arranged on white display platforms. — An exhibition space featuring sculptural objects, lamps, and furniture on white display platforms.

The show’s most striking objects were the lightest. Brazilian and Danish duo Russo Betak produced ethereal light fixtures by 3D printing discarded shells from Normandy’s seafood industry. The fixtures look delicate and weightless, yet their starting material was a waste product.

Giving a discarded object a new purpose runs through furniture design as well, as this vintage cider press reborn as sculptural stool shows with its Normandy roots.

Lessons from copenhagen design week exhibitions

Across all three of the copenhagen design week exhibitions, the most memorable designs came from the same habit: treating waste as a material worth testing. Blinds, tubing and seafood shells gained a second life, and visitors left with a clearer sense of what a design week can prove.

H/T azuremagazine.com

Frequently asked questions

Who launched the Deoron design brand, and when did it start?

Alberto Pallaoro, an entrepreneur and industrial designer, launched Deoron in 2021 as a digital storefront. Its debut group show at Milan Design Week in 2025 marked its move into physical exhibitions.

Where was the Other Circle exhibition held during Copenhagen Design Week?

Other Circle took over The LAB, a creative hub with photo studios in the Østerbro neighbourhood of Copenhagen. The group began in 2024 and blends art, design, fashion, food and music.

What materials did Russo Betak use for their light fixtures?

Russo Betak 3D printed discarded shells from Normandy’s seafood industry to make ethereal light fixtures. Although the fixtures look delicate and weightless, their starting material was a waste product.

Where did Ukurant present its work at Copenhagen Design Week?

Ukurant, a collective founded in 2019 by four Copenhagen designers, presented its work in a former laundry facility. The show displayed sketches, material tests and process notes alongside finished works.