Sculptural Furnitures Exhibited in Copenhagen

When The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition reveals this year’s furniture surprises in Copenhagen (Denmark), the audience will see the results of a new approach by the association’s manufacturers and designers. This year’s theme called for a sculptural piece of furniture in the original color of the material that will fit on a podium measuring 1 x 1 x 1 meter.

That might sound simple, as all furniture is essentially three-dimensional sculptural form. The challenge lies in combining function, comfort and craftsmanship in a sculptural expression with aesthetic and narrative substance.

“Reconciling these properties to create a functioning whole takes great skill in both the designer and the manufacturer. The functional aspects must be in place, the piece has to be interesting to look at from all angles, and it should convey a clear sculptural idiom,” Chairman Mia Gammelgaard and Deputy Chairman Thomas Bentzen explain.

The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition, which is known for its experimental approach to thematic issues, cooperation constellations and products, is once again blazing new trails in an effort to give the audience a total experience. The sculptural furniture is presented in the company of the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen’s neo-classicist sculptures at Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen, a truly outstanding exhibition venue, which was designed by another icon of Danish and international renown, Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll.

“Thorvaldsens Museum is an integrated total work of art with well-proportioned rooms, beautiful mosaic floors, colored walls, ornamental friezes, stucco ceilings and unique interior details, so we have approached our task with a particular sense of reverence this year,” says Mia Gammelgaard. The setting also motivated the requirement of color discretion and uniform proportions, which aims to ensure a clear and coherent expression in these extraordinary rooms.

“We are really excited, and we can hardly wait to place our sculptural furniture ideas in dialogue with these 164-year-old surroundings and works of art,” says Mia Gammelgaard with a smile.

This year’s field of designers and manufacturers also includes new names and faces, as a handful of guest exhibitors have been included: the established textile designer Anne Fabricius Møller, the younger designers Rasmus Trampedach, Rasmus Fenhann and Rasmus Bækkel Fex and the Swedish design duo TAF, a.k.a. Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Stålbohm. In addition to the guest exhibitors’ five sculptural prototypes the exhibition includes no less than thirty-six furniture sculptures by the association’s permanent members. The field is, as always, bursting with talent, innovation and exquisite craftsmanship from Denmark’s leading furniture designers and manufacturers.

We invite you to visit the exhibition to see, touch and feel the sculptural and innovative furniture creations, which connect with the intentions of the international conceptual agenda. We are looking forward to sharing this mix of sublime craftsmanship, sculptural fascination and Scandinavian tradition with you.

The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition 2012
Dates: Nov. 2 - Dec. 2, 2012.
Opening: Nov. 1, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Place: Thorvaldsens Museum 2
Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads DK - 1213 Copenhagen K

Images Courtesy: Thomas Ibsen and Judi Roaman, The Accessorator