Design Beyond Things. The Object as an Agent of Transformation is the official exhibition organised by the European Union at Expo 2025 Osaka running from 31 August to 13 September 2025. Curated by Patrizia Catalano, architect, professional journalist and founder of HoperAperta, and Miriam Giordano, communication expert, founder and director of Labóh, the collective exhibition is presented in the EU Pavilion, bringing together over 30 design projects by leading designers from 16 EU Member States.
The exhibition aims to invite visitors to reflect on the lexicon of European contemporary design at a time of deep social transformation and urgent need for new hopes for the future. Through the selected pieces, it highlights the transformative power of design — from embracing circular lifecycles and sustainable production to reclaiming a sense of local and global identities.
Among the participating designers are some of Europe’s most influential creative voices, including Klemens Schillinger, Paulineplusluis, Anne Brandhøj, Maria Bruun, Akiko and Ken, Antrei Hartikainen, Gaspard Fleury-Dugy, GamFratesi, Raffaella Mangiarotti, Carmelo Zappulla, BCXSY, Kiki Van Eijk, Studio Mae Engelgeer, Anna Lébényi, Dace Sūna, Austėja Platūkytė, Mantas Lesauskas, Maria Jeglinska-Adamczewska, Andreu Carulla, Inma Bermúdez, Álvaro Catalán de Ocón, among many others.
Rooted in the values of the New European Bauhaus and aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda and Expo’s central theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, the exhibition will be complemented by a programme of talks and international exchanges. Together, they will turn the EU Pavilion into a space of ongoing dialogue about the role of design in transforming and improving our living environment.
‘Reishi in the Nordic Light’ opens June 18–20 at Gallerie Møller Witt
Part of 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen.
Curated by Marie-Louise Høstbo
The Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Crafts and Design has awarded the exhibition with the following motivation:
“Maria Bruun has created a contemporary furniture art exhibition with works that effortlessly balance in dialogue between artistic objects and functional design. The exhibition’s form and materiality reflect Maria Bruun’s personal interpretations of design eras, history, and craft traditions. In Crafted Contrasts, Maria Bruun also presents new works – among them three barrel chairs – which emphasize the uncompromising approach that characterizes her practice. There is a refreshing fearlessness in her engagement with typologies such as the barrel chair, a form deeply rooted in both our cabinetmaking and design history, and Bruun’s approach is both uplifting and surprising. She insists that our minds are shaped by the scenography of everyday life, and that we must reflect on how we, with our bodies and senses, participate in this scenography.”
Maria Bruun
Crafted Contrasts
1 june 2024 – 18 august 2024
you are cordially invited to the
opening on 1 june 2024, 2-6pm
the artist will be present
Photo by Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen
Graphic design by Studio Atlant
I am beyond proud to recieve two nominations at the Design Awards 2023. In the Design of the Year category, Atelier Collection for Reform is nominated. Yukari Hotta, Alberte Tranberg and Nina Nørgaard and I have jointly created a collection of handles that strives to give the users something special. Atelier Collection is all about craftsmanship; works created for the hand and in this case – works created by hand. As the chef’s favorite knife, I saw the handle as the kitchen’s most valuable tool. My contribution to the collection is a series of wooden handles. Inspired by the knife handle as an essential tool, the classic dowel detail appears as an essential, constructive and aesthetic element in the handle. With its rounded shape, the handles lie well in the hand and feel both strong and soft. For a designer to be able to move freely in scale and material and at the same time create a complete experience that becomes a greater whole, was the best challenge I could wish for.
What a pleasure to art direct the photos for this years @mindcraftproject – Loved creating beautiful images alongside photographer Anders Sune Berg. The ambition was to let you get lost, and almost loose orientation in the mesmerising materials and work of twelve talented artists
Photo by Anders Sune Berg
Photo Art Direction Maria Bruun
This year’s Wegner Prize was awarded at Schackenborg Castle to Furniture Designer, Maria Bruun.
“The Danish furniture designer based in Copenhagen has manifested himself on the Danish as well as the international design scene in the last 10 years. ”The jury agreed that this year’s Wegner Prize should go to Maria Bruun, because she helps to maintain the unique positions of strength that Danish design and Danish craftsmanship have historically occupied – and continue to occupy” says Tønder Municipality’s mayor, Jørgen Popp Petersen , who is also chairman of the Wegner prize jury that appoints the prize winner.
The jury adds in their motivation that Maria Bruun has proven herself at a relatively young age as one of Denmark’s most important object and furniture designers, who, on top of that, has an unwavering ‘Wegnerian’ passion for wood as a material and adds: “Within the framework of a classic design concept, she possesses an honest and simple aesthetic approach to her furniture, where the timeless, tactile and sensual elements of wood are emphasised, while playing with form and thinking in function. In this work, she appears as a designer who at once challenges, but also has a clear starting point in the Nordic furniture tradition”
