Northmodern, a show which highlights Danish and Scandinavian design and lifestyle, has announced many new additions, areas, and exhibitors for its return next month.The fair already has a reputation for showcasing interesting design and now shifted focus from the purely commercial aspects to opening up to the general public.The January 2016 edition will be the third time the fair runs under this name. It was previously called Design Trade.Among the exhibitors will be KADK (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design). The future of Danish design will be surveyed in an exhibition titled “NØW” (a play on the Danish words “new,” “now,” and “know”).Among the 30 projects that are part of the exhibition, there will be medical devices that save lives in extreme weather conditions, game designs, adaptable cycle helmets planned to appeal as global bike culture advances, and flexible furniture for new singles in big cities. Many of these award-winning projects by students and graduates are already in production. NØW has already been exhibited at the world’s two leading design fairs in 2015: Salone del Mobile in Milan, and Tent London during London Design Festival.“We have experienced a massive international interest in both the exhibition and our students and graduates. Danish export within design and architecture is growing,” said Lena Dammand Lund, Dean of KADK.An additional project showcasing new talents will be Skud På Stammen, which partnered graduates in carpentry and cabinet making from KTS (Copenhagen Technical College) with a number of leading Danish designers to produce furniture prototypes. Documented in a book, the goal of the project is to nurture Danish carpentry skills, and possibly create tomorrow’s furniture classics.This year, Brussels is coming to Denmark as well. MAD Brussels and Brussels Invest & Export have partnered up with Northmodern in order to promote Belgian design in Scandinavia, through two initiatives: FORWARD, and Brussels Design Talents.FORWARD will have a stall at Northmodern. Established by the Brussels region’s foreign trade and investment department Brussels Invest & Export, and Mode and Design Centre (MAD Brussels), it brings select creators and designers under a guarantee of quality and innovation.Brussels Design Talents will bring to Northmodern seven designers, selected by a jury let by architect Julien De Smedt, who exhibit both an innovative and critical approach to design. The focus is on product design, including furniture, objects, textiles, and projects with a general environmental approach.Julien De Smedt, who co-founded the architecture studio PLOT with Bjarke Ingels in 2001, and co-founder of Makers with Agendas (MWA), will give a talk on the Northmodern Talk Scene.The regular Northmodern program will include regulars such as the homewares brand Orla Kiely, Broste Copenhagen, Munk Collective, British designer Tom Dixon, and New Zealand furniture brand Resident, as well as newcomers like ChiCura, Frandsen Project, German furniture brand Zeitraum, Copenhagen textiles brand ZikZak, and young Dutch conceptual product designer, a Eindhoven Design Academy graduate David Derksen.Northmodern will take place from January 13 through January 15, 2016, in Copenhagen.
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