[…] more enduring, they reflect a field shaped by reform movements and professional positioning and repositioning. Terms such as art industry, arts and crafts, skønvirke, applied art and design represent different perspectives and ambitions but have often sought to cover an equally broad scope. Today, ‘art industry’ sounds dated. Between the 1870s and 1900, the […]
More workshop time, more in-depth learning, more specific design skills – those were the demands from the students when a revolt broke out in the Royal Danish Academy’s School of Design in the beginning of 2022. Here, the Dean of Design offers her perspectives on the source of this dissatisfaction. What do the students […]
Danish design schools have undergone several major cutbacks, reforms, and political pressure. But does this mean that Danish newly graduated designers are overlooked due to lack of qualifications? Formkraft has asked Henrik Vibskov, who collaborates with several young designers
The tone was confrontational in April 2022, when students at Design School Kolding followed up on the rebellion among their fellow students in Copenhagen with an opinion piece titled ‘Academization is threatening our professional competence’ in the national newspaper Politiken. Ultimately, however, the article led to a broader and more inclusive dialogue between the […]
[…] development of new digital tools has influenced the field of craft and its approach to materials, form and aesthetics. PhD Anne Louise Bang offers some insights into the digital journey of design education and a look at some of the methods and digital tools shaping practices and approaches in craft now and in the future.
Mindcraft was conceived in 2008 with an ambition of putting Danish design on the world map. Over the past 13 years, that ambition has been fully accomplished, and the exhibitions in Milan in particular have played a key role in promoting Danish craft and design. In 2019, the concept was taken over by the […]
Craft maker and designer Helle Graabæk discusses the competencies that are developed through a craft and design practice and reflects on the capacity of craft and design to drive transformation in a time with an abundance of products but a lack of quality and sensuous qualities and sensibilities. She takes her point of departure […]
The Danish tradition of crafts and design is at risk, and young design enthusiasts may need to consider foreign alternatives to pursue a master's degree. Formkraft explores downward trends and raises important questions about the future of Danish crafts and design.
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Johannes Foersom is a trained furniture maker and designer and one of Denmark’s most prolific furniture creators over the past 40 years. In this conversation, he looks back at his student days in light of the recent student rebellion at the Royal Danish Academy and argues that the academy ought to consider more practice-based research.
When rebellions succeed, they transition into a prolonged political effort. Less romantic, more mundane. The students behind the rebellion in the design school at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen this past winter are trying to keep up the pressure and are feeling less green – except where the climate is concerned: in that […]