London design practice Studioilse has moved into Copenhagen design gallery The Apartment for a three-month residency (+ slideshow).
Studioilse has upped sticks from its south-east London home and moved to Copenhagen to take up residence in The Apartment, a former apartment taken over by the gallery that the studio has fitted out to look like a home again.
To fulfil the brief of the residency, Studioilse has created a lived-in atmosphere with design, people, kitchen suppers and lively discussions.
"We love the idea of approaching this project less as an exhibition or showcase and more as a residency," said Studioilse founder Ilse Crawford. "We'd like to inhabit The Apartment not just with our designs, but also with people and life."
"Too much design today is showcased or exhibited rather than experienced or used. What attracts us to The Apartment setting is that this is a real apartment in a residential building and hence a setting where the furniture and objects all make perfect sense."
Two new Studioilse designs made their debut when The Residency commenced this month: The Ilse Sofa for George Smith, and The Brass Cabinet for Jack Trench. Studioilse's furniture collections for De La Espada and the Ilse collection for Georg Jensen also feature in the space.
"What ties everything we do together is a belief that good design supports human life and behaviour – be it a neighbourhood, a building, a space, a piece of furniture or a product," said Crawford.
The Residency places the design in a domestic context that encourages use and interaction: up-and-coming chef Frederik Bille Brahe of Atelier September has been commissioned to cook a series of kitchen suppers in the space to encourage discussion about life and therefore about design.
"As a studio, we have a strong belief in the power of food, for bringing people together and encouraging discussion," Crawford said. "Hence the idea of a restaurant makes perfect sense."
A series of talks are also set to take place in the space, with proposed topics including: the power of a neighbourhood, what craft and skills mean today, buildings from the inside out, what wellbeing really means, and how to better engage all the senses.
"Our program of Kitchen Table Talks is another way of ensuring the residency is not just a furniture exhibition, but a more complete showcase of the Studioilse mindset," explained Crawford. "We want to create a platform that encourages discussion in different areas that our work touches."
"In today's increasingly digitally reliant world, it's becoming a rare luxury to get a group of people around the table to talk, in person, on a dedicated subject – sharing food, sharing opinions," she added.
The Studioilse residency at The Apartment will run until 2 November.