The 10 Days of Summer exhibition is a collaborative exhibition between the Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark and a group of Finnish or Finland-based designers, showcasing furniture and everyday objects inspired by the Nordic seasons during 3 Days of Design 2025.
The exhibition assembles an interesting group of Finnish designers and will present a collection of furnitures and items, inspired by the northern seasons, that can be used in a variety of outdoor settings. The exhibition is curated by the director of the Museum Wegner Anne Blond, and participating designers are: Aino Michelsen, Aleksi Peltonen, Antrei Hartikainen, Elisa Defossez, Henri Judin, Jonas Lutz, Rasmus Palmgren, Salla Luhtasela, Samuli Helavuo, Studio Tolvanen, Tatu Laakso, Ville Auvinen and exhibition architect Pinja Koskelin.
When summer arrives in the Nordics, life moves outdoors. The balcony, terrace, garden, park, forest or archipelago become new spaces for everyday living. The ever-changing Nordic weather is a sometimes humorous challenge, but it is also a defining condition — one that 12 Finnish or Finland-based contemporary designers have responded to in the exhibition 10 Days of Summer.
The curated group reflects the width of contemporary Finnish design, with each designer taking on the shared challenge of creating a piece of furniture or functional object for outdoor use. Something that engages with life outdoors without compromising each designer’s distinctive design language. A challenge that has resulted in pieces, that offer privacy in dense urban environments or that make outdoor storage practical, pieces that can withstand rain or wind and that ease the annual spring cleaning, pieces light enough to carry under your arm and pieces that help attract birdlife to your balcony.
When these works appear together, they evoke a longing for the carefree and sun-filled Nordic summer. Yet because the weather is so unpredictably fickle that the skis never quite make it into storage, this longing also carries a touch of melancholy. At the same time the Nordic region is also a place of moods, where constantly shifting energies allow spaces and objects to emerge in a play between light and shadow. They appear, fade, disappear and reappear. This dynamic is something that 10 Days of Summer exhibition architect Pinja Koskelin has woven into the design of both the interior and outdoor spaces of the exhibition.
10 Days of Summer seeks to engage both the functional and the poetic, sensory dimensions of design, inviting visitors to reflect on how thoughtful design can shape our surroundings and, in doing so, enrich both our physical and mental well-being.
Photographer: Sara Urbanski
Graphic designer: Lars Högström