3daysofdesign files: Kristina Dam Studio and the Quiet Power of Meaningful Design

In the contemporary world of excessive visual overload in terms of pictures, products, and other elements, there arises another opposing necessity - that of slowing down, removing the surplus, and creating something that is not merely visually appealing, but meaningful from an experiential perspective. It is precisely in this kind of cultural context that the theme of 3daysofdesign 2026, Make This Moment Matter, becomes relevant as it prompts us all to ponder about the value of the current moment and the importance of bringing more meaning to objects and spaces around us.

Design today seems to be undergoing a process of recalibration. After years of relentless production and accelerated consumption, the question is no longer “What can we create?” but rather “Why create at all?” In a saturated world, a project only gains meaning when it is able to generate connection, wellbeing, and memory. It is no longer enough for design to simply occupy space; it must transform space into experience. Within this search for authenticity, contemporary minimalism is evolving into something less cold and austere, and more emotional, human, and sensorial. Within this context, Echoes of Form, the installation presented by Kristina Dam Studio during 3daysofdesign 2026, feels like a perfect expression of this spirit of the moment. 

Simone Lorusso: This year’s 3daysofdesign theme, Make This Moment Matter, reflects a growing desire for more meaningful and conscious design. How does Echoes of Form interpret this idea through space, materiality, and atmosphere?

Kristina Dam: For Echoes of Form, we are transforming our Copenhagen showroom into a café - a quiet, lived-in space filled with seasonal greenery and freshly baked buns with cheese from Café Mirabelle. It is the setting in which we are introducing our new Split series: café tables and stools that embody everything we believe in - honest materials, refined proportions, and a calm that invites you to stay.

The entire showroom will be softly draped in linen curtains, created in collaboration with the Aarhus-based brand Anne-Mi, enveloping the space in warmth and texture. Together, these layers - tactile surfaces, natural scent, the rhythm of conversation, the taste of good food - create an atmosphere that engages all the senses at once.

For us, "Make This Moment Matter" is fundamentally about togetherness. Both Anne-Mi and Café Mirabelle share our commitment to honest, sustainable materials and seasonal craft, and these partnerships feel like a natural extension of our own values. We want our guests to step inside, sit down in the middle of the exhibition, and simply feel at home - because we believe the most meaningful connections happen when all the senses are in play.

SL: In a cultural moment shaped by visual overload and constant consumption, your installation embraces softness, silence, and sensory presence. Do you see contemporary minimalism evolving into something more emotional and human-centered?

KD: Absolutely and I think this has always been at the heart of what we do. With Kristina Dam Studio, the first impression is always the broad lines: the clarity of form, the calm of the composition. But when you step closer, a whole other world reveals itself - the craftsmanship, the precision of a detail, a subtle material choice that could so easily have gone unnoticed. That tension between restraint and richness is very deliberate. It is our way of asking people to slow down, to look more carefully, to spend time with the object rather than simply passing through.

Minimalism, for me, has never been about emptiness. It is about creating the conditions for presence. The linen curtains in this installation do exactly that on a sensory level - they soften the light, absorb sound, and subtly shift the atmosphere so that people instinctively settle. The room breathes differently, and so do the people in it.

Inside the Copenhagen showroom, the Danish studio transforms the space into a quiet, immersive environment where tactile surfaces, soft materials, and carefully balanced tones create an atmosphere that feels suspended in time, almost meditative. Far removed from the spectacularisation that often defines design events today, Echoes of Form embraces a language of subtle presence: a delicate dialogue between form, materiality, and perception.

New collections are presented alongside selected iconic pieces from the studio, creating a narrative continuity that highlights the coherence of Kristina Dam’s design research. The sculptural minimalism that defines the brand is never merely a formal exercise, but rather a way of allowing the tactile quality of materials and the emotional relationship with objects to emerge naturally.

SL: Your work has always balanced architectural rigor with tactile sensitivity. How do you approach the relationship between form and emotion when designing objects and interiors today?

KD: Creating spaces that instil a sense of calm has always been my guiding ambition - calm not as absence, but as a very particular kind of visual and emotional equilibrium. When furniture, objects, and materials are in true balance, there is a quiet satisfaction to it: everything occupies the space exactly as it should, and nothing feels out of place. That feeling of rightness is what I am always working towards.

We recently completed interiors for a café and an art museum shop using Kristina Dam Studio pieces, and for both projects this balance was everything. I love thinking through every element in a room - the light, the rhythm of forms, the layering of textures. For me, a space is never truly finished until the very last styling detail is in place. That is when it comes alive.

SL: With Echoes of Form, the experience extends beyond furniture into hospitality and ritual through the collaboration with Mirabelle. Why was it important for you to include food, rhythm, and conviviality as part of the installation experience?

KD: To me, "Make This Moment Matter" is most honestly answered by doing exactly that - by creating a moment that genuinely matters. And that means inviting our guests to sit down, to talk, to enjoy something to eat or drink, and to feel truly welcome. Not as visitors to an exhibition, but as people sharing a space together.

I am convinced that the most authentic connections - between people, and between people and objects - happen when all the senses are engaged and when we feel at ease. This installation is the fullest expression of that belief, and I cannot wait to open our doors during 3daysofdesign and see it come to life.

Founded in 2012, Kristina Dam Studio has developed a distinctive language that combines architectural thinking, craftsmanship, and compositional rigor. Furniture, accessories, and art objects are conceived as essential yet sensitive presences, capable of interacting with space without overpowering it. A philosophy that feels especially relevant today, precisely because it responds to the growing desire for “meaningful design” evoked by this year’s festival theme.

The experience imagined for Echoes of Form, however, extends beyond the visual dimension. Throughout the day, visitors are welcomed into a café setting curated together with Mirabelle, one of the defining names of Copenhagen’s contemporary culinary scene. In the mornings, coffee and BMO accompany the slow rhythm of the first visits; in the afternoons, seasonal servings and kombucha transform the showroom into a convivial space where design meets the everyday ritual of food and shared moments.

More than a simple exhibition, the installation becomes a complete sensory experience, bringing together atmosphere, material, taste, and time. An invitation to experience design not as an accumulation of objects, but as the creation of meaningful moments.

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Words: Simone Lorusso