Danish design

The Danish Culture Canon credits Thorvald Bindesbøll (1846–1908) with early contributions to design in the areas of ceramics, jewellery, bookbinding, silver and furniture although he is known in the rest of the world for creating the Carlsberg logo (1904), still in use today.

[1] The Canon also includes Knud V. Engelhardt (1882–1931) for a more industrial approach, especially in the rounded contours of his electric tramcar designs which were widely copied.

[2] In the area of textiles, Marie Gudme Leth (1895–1997) brought the screen printing process to Denmark, opening a factory in 1935 which allowed her colourful patterns to be manufactured on an industrial basis.

[7] The Bernadotte & Bjørn studio, established in 1950, was the first to specialise in industrial design, with an emphasis on office machines, domestic appliances and functional articles such as the thermos jug.

The electronics manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, in collaboration with Bernadotte & Bjørn and later with Jacob Jensen and David Lewis, went on to excel in modern design work.

Around the same time, the Stelton company collaborated with Arne Jacobsen and Erik Magnussen to produce their iconic vacuum jug, a huge international success.

In addition, as part of its trade and industry policy, the Danish government has launched the DesignDenmark initiative which aims to restore Denmark to the international design elite.

[9] Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), Denmark's most widely recognized architect, is remembered for his expressionist Sydney Opera House (1966) and the later Bagsværd Church (1976) with its wavy concrete roof.

[11] Danish architecture is currently in a new-wave era, not receiving more attention since the golden age of Arne Jacobsen and Jørn Utzon, being focused on function and concept rather than aesthetics and an impeccable finish.