UKURANT was founded in October 2019 by Josefine Krabbe Munck, Kamma Rosa Schytte, Kasper Kyster and Lærke Ryom and they describe themselves as a community and a platform to provide support for young designers across disciplines.

They are questioning the mass production of design where large and well-established companies aim primarily for low manufacturing costs or rely on a back catalogue where an old designs can be given a new life.

The exhibition has “Experimental furniture and design objects by 24 young designers showing how a new generation challenge traditions, experiment with materials and technologies, question cautious aesthetics and challenge commercial design.”

Some of the aims of the group are set out in the catalogue for the exhibition so "UKURANT acknowledges design objects as functional and sculptural. We find that the industry undermines this statement. UKURANT insists on combining an artistic practice with commercial products and challenge the biased notion of commercial design."

Many of the designs challenge conventional forms and all experiment with materials either by using standard and well-established materials in less conventional ways or by using new materials for different outcomes for standard design products such as chairs. Several designers here are doing what all good designers should do and that is working with a specific material to understand what can or can't be done and to experiment with new techniques or new tools to push that material to new possibilities.

What is common to most of the works is a move towards strong textures and the use of bold and solid shapes that are a clear rejection of minimalism in recent Danish design where the aim so often seems to be to pare down or reduce structure so that designs, for furniture and household objects, can become thin or flat so appear to lack bold confident form or distinct character. Many of the works in the exhibition have a sense of drama and a scale that occupies space in a way that is closer to the theatre and closer to the baroque style of the 17th century than to the rationalism of Danish design from the 1820s or the functionalism of modern Danish design since the 1950s.

The exhibition was designed by Emil Qvist for the basement space of Nyt I bo in Store Kongensgade in Copenhagen and was one of the major events of 3daysofdesign that was moved on to early September from the Spring because of the pandemic. Normally, through 3daysofdesign, this design store makes space available throughout the ground-floor shop area for smaller design companies to show their products but this was a major exhibition and establishes Nyt I bo as a significant gallery venue.

photographs and basic information about the designs

3daysofdesign
UKURANT
Nyt i bo

When Waters Retract - Lars Ryom
Smoke Cloud Chandelier - Christian and Jade
Artificial Formations - David Ronco
Illusory Functions - Margarida Lopes Pereira
No. 13 - Therese Hald Boesen