Ukurant exhibition features squishy rubber tables and drywall vases
The Ukurant exhibition at 3 Days of Design includes craft-focussed furniture ranging from a raw branch wood stool to a vertebrate-like sun lounger rendered in gleaming plastic.
Set in a former factory in the Danish capital, Ukurant Makes Room brings together pieces by 26 emerging creatives from around the world who are committed to combining craft with functionality.
"Ukurant showcases experimental design where artistic and commercial values co-exist," said the exhibition founders, whose focus is providing a stepping stone for young designers transitioning from study to industry, "where 'good' design is often defined by low cost fabrication and quick turnover".
Among the exhibitors is Montreal-based studio Atelier Fomenta. The collective is presenting a duo of cylindrical side tables topped with squishy rubber table cloths pinned down by rivets, which give the impression of thickly iced cakes.
German-Portuguese designer Cristiano Picão Pereira is showing two boxy vases made from delicate layers of drywall, a material commonly used in construction, arranged to resemble architectural motifs or tectonic plates.
Droopy candleholders by Danish glassblower Julie Fuhlendorff are also on display. Made from solid clear glass, the holders were deliberately created with amorphous forms that challenge what the designer described as common "technical perfection".
A striking sun lounger by Danish designer Lasse Sylvest Lilleør is part of the exhibition's furniture offering. Crafted from acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) plastic and supported by aluminium tubes, the glossy black seating is shaped like an oversized spinal column.
Lilleør chose ASA plastic for its UV resistance, making it a suitable material for outdoor furniture.
More organic materials are also on display, including in Austrian designer Jakob Niemann's spindly stool made from raw branch wood – the fifth piece in his series exploring the material.
Niemann harvests branches from living trees, using the timber's natural round shape for steam bending to create his seating.
Elsewhere in the exhibition are two pinewood tables and a steel stool by Finnish designer Anton Mikkonen, who made a splash at last year's Habitare fair in Helsinki with his rough-hewn furniture.
Also from Finland, interior architect Tatu Laakso is presenting a chunky chair and stool made from a mixture of solid oak and medium density fibreboard (MDF), finished with a shellac stain and polyurethane lacquer.
Ukurant was established in 2019 by Copenhagen designers Kamma Rosa Schytte, Josefine Krabbe, Kasper Kyster and Lærke Ryom.
The group has stressed that their goal is to unite emerging designers in a landscape that often pits young creatives against each other.
"Motivated by the potential of a community, Ukurant gathers young, talented creatives to show design from a young perspective, foregoing competitiveness and sharp elbows, seeking to strengthen the individual position in a shared momentum," said the founders .
Ukurant has hosted three exhibitions at previous editions of 3 Days of Design. Projects presented in past shows have included vases cast from beeswax and lamps made from egg yolks.
The photography is by Maya Matsuura.
Ukurant Makes Room takes place from 10 to 12 June 2026 at Fabrikken, Sundholmsvej 46, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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