Danish designer Signe Hytte had Oscar Wilde in mind when designing this home for a fictional poet, presented during 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen.
Enter the Salon was an exhibition of furniture and homeware products from seven different brands, styled to feel more like a lived-in interior than a show space.
The project was initiated by The Conary, a private members’ club for senior executives with C-suite roles. The club gave Hytte free rein to transform its rooms during the design festival.
Hytte, who was previously head of design for &Tradition, decided to create a modern reinterpretation of the 19th-century salon, a place where artists, musicians, writers and thinkers would come together to share ideas.
“I wanted to create a narrative,” Hytte told Dezeen during the tour.
She said she aimed to create an interior that didn’t feel branded, so guests could imagine real-life scenes unfolding. This led her to think about the house being home to a poet.
“My vision was to do away with the classic fair stand and tell a story instead, one where every guest can explore multiple layers and find their own to be inspired by,” she said.
The exhibition spread across two floors, with furniture by Japanese brand Karimoku Case, lighting by Japanese company Ambientec and beds from Sweden-based Carpe Diem Beds.
Portuguese homeware brand Origin Made, American design office Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Danish textile company Silkeborg Uldspinderi and Danish box-making company August Sandgren completed the line-up.
The most striking space is the study, where shelves filled with assorted objects provide a backdrop to a bureau.
This desk was also laden with objects, including piles of paper, a leather pencil pot and bound letters, while a large paper pendant lamp hung overhead.
“I wanted to push the brands out of their comfort zone,” said Hytte. “You can imagine this as the study of a writer.”
Upon arriving, the first room visitors encountered was a large reception space that flowed into a dining area.
The mood here was defined by a Japanese-style skylight, which created a soft-lit atmosphere.
Upstairs, the study formed part of a private suite including a small living room and a bedroom.
The upper floor also included a double-height atrium that Hytte styled as a courtyard patio.
The colour and material palette was highly muted, with most objects and surfaces displaying shades of cream, brown, taupe and soft green, but each room had a distinct mood.
Traces of life could be found throughout but were very subtle. A pair of glasses appeared to have been left in the first-floor sitting room, while a handbag sat next to one of the sofas in the ground-floor lounge.
In the bedroom, details included a wall tapestry by Ladies & Gentlemen Studio resembling a hanging kimono.
To enhance the salon feel, a soundtrack created a sense of someone playing the piano elsewhere in the house, while Oscar Wilde quotes can be found on some of the walls.
Danish brand Kvadrat supplied textiles for curtains, bringing an element of softness. The effect is most pronounced in the atrium, where white curtains surround the entire space.
This space served as a venue for events throughout 3 Days of Design, including a drinks reception co-hosted by Dezeen and a panel discussion chaired by editorial director Max Fraser.
Other installations at 3 Days of Design include an exhibition by furniture brand Federicia that shows adaptations of iconic mid-century furniture classics and sculptural wood furniture created by Faye Toogood in Danish design studio Frama.
Enter the Salon took place from 12 to 14 June as part of 3 Days of Design. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
The photography is by Sofie Staunsager and Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
