From June 10-12, 2026, 3daysofdesign returns to Copenhagen with a city-wide program of exhibitions, installations, talks, and showroom presentations organized around the theme "Make This Moment Matter." Taking place across eight Design Districts throughout the Danish capital, this year's festival brings together design brands, cultural institutions, studios, and practitioners to explore contemporary questions shaping design and the built environment. As part of the program, Cobe and ArchDaily will host the public launch of a guest-edited edition of Cobe Notes, under the theme Thresholds, at the Cobe Bookcafé, Nordhavn on June 10.
The special issue of Cobe Notes examines architecture through conditions of transition, exploring how buildings, cities, and design processes engage with change, uncertainty, and transformation. The launch will include a conversation between Christele Harrouk, Editor-in-Chief of ArchDaily, Mads Birgens, Head of Urbanism at Cobe, and Jacob Blak, Head of Sustainability, moderated by Kristoffer Lindhardt Weiss, CEO and Publisher of the Danish Architectural Press. The event is open to the public and forms part of the broader cultural and professional program of 3daysofdesign 2026.
Centered on the theme "Make This Moment Matter," the 2026 edition invites participants to reflect on the impact of present-day decisions and their long-term implications for communities, cities, and ecosystems. Developed alongside a new visual identity by Copenhagen-based collective On Display, the theme serves as a common thread across a program that extends beyond product presentation to engage with material innovation, circularity, sustainability, and evolving approaches to living and building. Through exhibitions, installations, and public conversations, this year's festival explores how design disciplines can respond to increasingly complex conditions while shaping more resilient futures.
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As in previous editions, the festival extends across multiple areas of Copenhagen. The eight Design Districts, Islands Brygge, Christianshavn, Holmen, Frederiksstaden, Kongens Nytorv, Rosengård, Nordhavn, and Kultur, organize exhibitions and events within distinct urban contexts, ranging from former industrial waterfronts and historic neighborhoods to cultural institutions and contemporary developments. Six i—Points distributed throughout the city will serve as information hubs and gathering places, providing visitors with guidance, programming information, and meeting points for Design Walks and other festival activities.
Several exhibitions in this year's program engage directly with questions relevant to architecture and the built environment. In Christianshavn, the historic waterfront warehouse Gammel Dok hosts Material Matters Copenhagen, a platform dedicated to materials, manufacturing, and sustainable production. Among the featured projects is Wood for the Trees, presented by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and designed by London-based studio Mitre & Mondays. Drawing on themes explored in the documentary Forested Future, the exhibition examines the relationship between forestry, resource management, and timber construction through an immersive spatial installation that traces the journey of hardwood from forest ecosystems to finished products.
The same venue also hosts Selected Projects, an exhibition organized by the Danish Art Workshops and curated by Mentze Ottenstein. Presented within Denmark's largest production residency, the exhibition brings together designers, artists, architects, and craftspeople working across disciplines and materials, highlighting experimental approaches to making and the continued relevance of craft within contemporary design culture. Elsewhere in the city, exhibitions such as The Swiss Atelier, located in the newly opened Embassy of Switzerland in Denmark, explore themes of material reuse and circular production through installations developed from reclaimed sailcloth and upcycled truck tarpaulins.
This year's program highlights how design can operate across scales, from the stewardship of natural resources and the development of new materials to the shaping of interiors, buildings, and cities. Within this broader context, the launch of Thresholds contributes to ongoing discussions about architecture's capacity to engage with transformation and uncertainty, reflecting many of the themes explored throughout the festival.
Among other upcoming events, the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona has recently released its full program, detailing the conferences, exhibitions, and public activities scheduled to take place from June 28 to July 2, 2026. Later in the year, the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB), organized by the Estonian Centre for Architecture since 2011, will return from September 9 to November 30, 2026, curated by Stuudio TÄNA, Mark Aleksander Fischer, and Mira Samonig.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's coverage of Copenhagen's 3daysofdesign.
