Danish Desire
Jan 23 2021
event online

Danish design has become a global phenomenon, with Denmark contributing more new designs today than ever before.

What makes great design?

What can Denmark teach us about the importance of supporting and educating talent to produce lasting design?

How do new technologies affect the design process?

Join our live virtual panel discussion presented by the Royal Danish Consulate General and TORP, featuring leading designers, makers and educators in Canada and Denmark to explore the roots of Danish design and its success. Visit our Danish Desire webpage for videos on the Danish designers and producers who changed how we look at design.

Panelists

Lene Tanggaard is rector at Design School Kolding and Professor of Psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at the University of Aalborg, Denmark. She has been advisor for more than 20 PhD students and Director of The International Centre for the Cultural Psychology of Creativity (ICCPC), and co-director of the Center for Qualitative Studies, a network of more than 90 professors and researchers concerned with methodology and development of new research tools. She is regional editor of The International Journal of Qualitative Research in Education. Besides her academic work she serves as board member and acts as advisory board member in numerous committees and organizations.

Peter Fleming designs and makes furniture in Toronto, Canada; since 2006, he has headed the Furniture Studio of the Sheridan College Bachelor of Craft and Design Program. He received the prestigious Prix Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts in 2000; his work has been extensively exhibited in Canada, the USA, China, and Korea and he has written and lectured extensively on the contemporary context of furniture design and making in Canada.

Fleming has a considerable interest in the intersections between traditional furniture making techniques and subtractive digital fabrication. This collaboration provides the opportunity for rapid form development and prototyping while maintaining the sustainable goals, structural integrity and functional relevance of contemporary wood furniture design.

Joanne Chan is the Principal of SDI Design, a commercial design firm that focus on Workplace design in Toronto. Coming from a non-traditional design education background of Fine Arts, Joanne brings the unexpected tools for form-giving and visual expression. As an active practitioner of Interior Design for the past two decades, Joanne’s current role as the Principal and Creative Director allow her to combine creative solutions, market, & technical expertise in her projects. Aside from her business & design focus, Joanne contributes her research & public speaking efforts to many Future of Work panel discussions. As well she actively participates in working on experimental projects with DesignTO festival and the Interior Design Show.

As co-founder and creative director of Akb Architects, Kelly Buffey is internationally recognized as one of Canada’s leading architects in the private residential realm. Throughout her career, Kelly’s work has been distinguished for architectural excellence integrated with a holistic approach to interior design. Her comprehensive perspective results in buildings of exceptional resolution and an uncommon level of refinement. Inspired by the experiential qualities of space, Kelly synthesizes the humane aspects of architecture with a rigorous process of design.

Kelly is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she received her master’s degree with distinction as recipient of the Toronto Architectural Guild Medal. She also received a highly awarded Bachelor of Applied Arts in Interior Design from Ryerson Polytechnic University and a Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University. Kelly is a registered architect with the Ontario Association of Architects and has been awarded fellowship to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for her professional eminence in design, which is one of the highest honours the institute can confer upon a member.

Kasper Holst Pedersen has a background in such diverse fields as crafts, science and business. Studying mathematics and physics at the university of Copenhagen and then trained as a cabinetmaker from Rud. Rasmussen in Copenhagen obtaining the Queens medal of excellent craftsmanship before joining the family company of PP Møbler in 2001, where Mr. Pedersen worked intensively for two years implementing state of the art modern production technology. After completing a bachelor in 2006 and recognized as one of the top graduates of the year at the Copenhagen Business School Mr. Pedersen has taken on the great responsibility of protecting and developing the diminishing traditions of real Danish crafts following the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

The work of PP Møbler is based on strong ideas about environmental concerns, sustainable living and social responsibility. To Mr. Pedersen the process of making furniture has to be part of a natural sustainable circle with concerns of the origin of the materials and the re-planting and nursing of the forests. As the most resent remarkable step, PP Møbler represented by three generations of the Pedersen family has established a PP forest in the local area of the workshop.

Participants

Presented by the Royal Danish Consulate General and TORP Inc. Panelists: Lene Tanggaard, Peter Fleming, Joanne Chan, Kelly Buffey, Kasper Holst Pedersen

Acknowledgements

Accessibility

Who should visitors contact with questions regarding accessibility?
Hans Wegner’s Swivel chair pp502 for PP Mobler
Henning Koppel’s sauce bowl for Georg Jensen
David Thulstrup’s ARV dining table for Brdr. Kruger
Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 chair for Fritz Hansen
Poul Henningsen’s PH5 for Louis Poulsen