Following this year’s 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, Todd Tyler, Chief Creative Officer at Studio IDC, shared his perspective on the ideas, materials, and experiences shaping the next chapter of design.
Humanized Modernism
Every design city develops a reputation.
Milan is theatrical. Paris is expressive. New York is ambitious.
Copenhagen remains something else entirely.
It is a city that believes design should improve the quality of everyday life.
That philosophy was evident throughout this year’s 3 Days of Design. Across hospitality, furniture, architecture, art, and product design, a common thread emerged: contemporary environments are becoming warmer, softer, and more human.
While modernism remains the foundation, its sharper edges are being softened by comfort, craft, atmosphere, and nature. The result isa new expression of luxury—one that feels less concerned with perfection and more concerned with experience.
The Emotional Temperature is Warming
For more than a decade, contemporary interiors have been dominated by restraint. Cool palettes, crisp geometries, and highly disciplined environments defined both residential and hospitality design.
In Copenhagen, that narrative appears to be shifting.
Throughout the city, a richer palette emerged. At Ferm Living, deep olive cabinetry, tobacco-toned upholstery, and richly grained oak replaced the cooler Scandinavian minimalism historically associated with the region. Similar palettes appeared at Walter Knoll, where ochre walls and moss-colored textiles created environments of quiet sophistication, and at Bobe Restaurant, where warm woods, natural linens, and layered neutrals transformed a dining room into something that felt more residential than commercial.
What was most striking was the absence of contrast. Rather than creating tension through opposing colors and materials, designers created depth through subtle variation. Moss sat beside olive. Walnut layered against tobacco. Clay blended into limestone.
Even outside the showrooms, the city reinforced the same story. Weathered brick, oxidized copper, ivy-covered facades, and historic masonry contributed to a palette that felt rooted in nature rather than trend.
The result is a form of luxury built around emotional comfort rather than visual drama.
Nature and Design – Interwoven
For years, biophilic design has been discussed as an additive strategy. Plants were introduced into otherwise conventional environments as a means of softening interiors and promoting wellbeing.
The strongest projects in Copenhagen approached nature differently.
Few examples demonstrated this more clearly than Louisiana Museum. Long glass corridors frame mature trees and sculpture gardens with almost cinematic precision, allowing architecture to dissolve into the landscape.The experience feels less like moving through a building and more like moving through a series of carefully curated relationships between art, nature, and light.
A similar approach was visible at 1 Hotel Copenhagen, where mature trees, stone formations, layered planting, and filtered daylight become integral components of the guest experience rather than decorative additions. Landscape is not something viewed from the interior—it is part of the interior.
Even product design reflected this shift. The organic silhouettes of Brandt Hardware, the sculptural ceramics seen throughout Copenhagen, and the softened forms appearing across furniture collections all suggested a growing fascination with objects that feel shaped by nature rather than manufactured by industry.
Nature is no longer being brought indoors.
The distinction between indoors and outdoors is beginning to disappear altogether.
Designing Atmosphere
Lighting emerged as one of the most compelling categories during the week, yet the most interesting developments were not technological.
They were emotional.
One of the most memorable installations appeared suspended beneath the ornate ceilings of a historic Copenhagen interior, where hundreds of points of light formed a floating constellation overhead. The installation was striking not because of the fixture itself, but because of the atmosphere it created.
At Nuura, faceted glass and softly diffused illumination transformed lighting into mood rather than ornament. At 1 Hotel Copenhagen, oversized textile lanterns floated above communal spaces like illuminated architecture. Across numerous showrooms, designers consistently favored glow over brightness and ambience over performance.
Many of the strongest lighting concepts borrowed from familiar archetypes—lanterns, paper forms, textiles, and handcrafted vessels.Their appeal was grounded less in decoration and more in their ability to shape story.
The objective was not illumination.
It was atmosphere.
As homes, hotels, and workplaces increasingly serve multiple purposes, lighting is becoming one of the primary tools designers use to support restoration, reflection, and wellbeing.
Increasingly, designers are not creating lighting schemes.
Modernism Learns to Relax
Perhaps the most pervasive observation throughout Copenhagen was the evolution of modernism itself.
The strongest interiors remained disciplined and contemporary, yet they felt noticeably warmer, softer, and more inviting than the minimal environments that defined much of the previous decade. At Gubi, sculptural seating, rich textiles, and organic forms demonstrated how contemporary furniture can balance sophistication with comfort. At FRAMA, historic architecture and carefully restrained interventions created spaces that felt collected, personal, and deeply human rather than overly designed.
Even the Finn Juhl exhibition served as a reminder that comfort has always been central to great Scandinavian design. Decades later, the soft curves, organic forms, and human-centered proportions still feel remarkably relevant.
Across hospitality, residential, and product design, designers appeared less interested in creating perfect environments and more interested in creating places people genuinely want to inhabit.
Modernism remains the foundation.
Comfort is becoming the luxury.
A More Human Future
The most compelling environments observed throughout Copenhagen shared a common characteristic.
They were designed around people rather than objects.
Whether in the contemplative halls of the Royal Library, the landscape-driven experience of Louisiana Museum, the residential warmth of Bobe, the immersive biophilia of 1 Hotel Copenhagen, or the carefully edited environments of Ferm Living and FRAMA, the strongest projects prioritized atmosphere, connection, reflection, and belonging.
They encouraged people to linger.
To gather.
To slow down.
This may be the most important lesson emerging from Copenhagen today. The future of design is not becoming less sophisticated.
It is becoming more human.
Todd Tyler is an accomplished interior designer, furniture designer, and creative leader with over two decades of experience in the industry. He is currently the Chief Creative Officer of Studio IDC, a full-service Miami-based interior design and procurement firm specializing in luxury residential and hospitality projects. With his extensive background and passion for design, Todd brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role at Studio IDC. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s creative direction and ensuring that each project meets the highest standards of excellence and innovation.