The History of Danish Design Culture: Shaping Ideals and Practices / Carlsberg Foundation Monography Fellowship

Danish design is usually branded as a strong, uniform tradition, but its history is mostly told through selected objects, famous designers, and few successful firms. Institutions are rarely described as carriers of this cultural unity. Only more recently has research shed light on institutions, organisations, periodicals, exhibitions, and schools, which formed the culture of Danish design. This monograph will be the first attempt to critically investigate the broad scope of institutions and their role in developing this comprehensive design culture, across professions and firms to consumers, publics, and state policies. My book will track and discuss, how different societal actors, debates and conflicts have shaped the roles and values of design in Denmark.
Danish design is a strong inspiration internationally, and it represents valuable ideals of simple, durable, user-friendly, and equalitarian design, which are even acknowledged and promoted as guidelines for the severely needed green transition of production and consumption. It might, however, be difficult to transfer any of this inspiration, if we don’t have a critical understanding of, how the ideals and practices where shaped by different institutions, and through which constraints they got their broader cultural impact. We need to understand the culture of Danish design and its history to be able to translate ideals and practices. This study is both a timely contribution to design practice and to international design history research on the role of institutions.