Teenage Dreams

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Johanne Troelsgaard Toft, Senior Press Officer
jott@dac.dk
+45 6142 1927

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Festival tents, biogenetic materials, and selfie backdrops: New design exhibition shows what teenage bedrooms will look like in the future

Experience the world of teenagers during the design festival 3daysofdesign, held in Copenhagen, where Danish Architecture Center will present its first exhibition dedicated to design aimed at teenagers. The exhibition “Teenage Dreams” explores how digitization, sustainability, mental health, and social media affect and transform the lives and personal spaces of teens. Come to the exhibition opening on June 12 from 5am to 9pm.

Step into a dream universe at Danish Architecture Center in the new exhibition Teenage Dreams that spotlights teenagers and invites visitors to explore, interact, and reflect. Through fascinating installations created by recognized design studios such as Our Shift, Natural Material Studio, and Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen, visitors enter into a world where dreams and reality merge.  

Each installation is designed to spark reflection and conversations about how spaces impact our well-being and reflect the sign of the times. You can touch new biogenetic materials, recharge your body and phone while lying in what was once a festival tent, and check out the light in the selfie zone where the border between the private and public sphere is dissolved. Experience how spaces can inspire and shape teens to think big thoughts and set their dreams free. 

“Spaces can have a huge impact on our well-being and sense of identity. Historically, Danish designers have focused on creating high-quality furniture for adults and educational furniture for children, whereas teens have been more or less neglected. This despite the fact that our teenage years are a highly formative period of our lives. We are living in interesting times with changing values. Teenagers are not only quicker to respond these changes; they will also be tasked with shaping our future. As such, it is important to consider how the physical surroundings can reflect the dreams teenagers have about the massive changes they are faced with,” says Pernille Stockmarr, a senior curator at Danish Architecture Center. 

A teenager’s room is more than just a room 

For teenagers, their bedroom is their safe space. It is where they can get a good night’s sleep and can be themselves. It is where they do their homework, recharge their batteries, and relax. However, their room also provides the technological setting for their communication, social interaction, and identity formation online.  

Today, more young people than ever are struggling. Many feel pressured to succeed and suffer from loneliness. And many teens are far more concerned about the environment today than previous generations were. Their commitment to being responsible consumers is reflected in an increasing recycling trend, both regarding their clothing choices and to the materials and furniture they surround themselves with.   

The installations in Teenage Dreams do not show us an exact representation of what the teenage bedroom will look like in the future; rather, they offer us a vision of this universe in which wishes and behavior, nature and technology merge in different ways. 

The individual installations challenge conventional design and perceptions of physical space and invite you into a world of new opportunities. The exhibition focuses on the power of ideas rather than on practical solutions, and as such illustrates that dreams can shape how we design spaces in the future.  

Visitors to the exhibition will encounter short videos in which teenagers are given an opportunity to share their wishes about their surroundings and their bedrooms. The exhibition also includes the photography project Still Life of Teenagers, a collection of snapshot images of contemporary teenage bedrooms taken by the photographer and sociologist Barbara Marstrand. Marstrand’s images serve as a bridge between the futuristic installations and the present. We hear directly from the teenagers themselves.

Teenage Dreams will be open from June 12, 2024, to January 5, 2025.

Press photos from the exhibition is available for request from June 11, 2024.

Read more about the exhibition 

Thanks

The exhibition was developed by Danish Architecture Center in collaboration with Barbara Marstrand, Our Shift, Natural Material Studio and Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen. 

The exhibition is founded by the philanthropic association Realdania. 

Also, thanks to Egetæpper, Elis, +Halle, Homapal, Stilling, Rehau, Pro-Wood. 

About 3daysofdesign 

As part of the important annual design event, 3daysofdesign, Danish Architecture Center is shining a spotlight on Danish design aimed at teenagers. Under the theme Dare to dream, this year’s 3daysofdesign festival zooms in on how designers, architects, and interior designers do more than design objects, spaces and furniture; they design dreams too.  
 
Let the exhibitions, events, and guided tours give you a taste of how Danish designers and architects have fostered a tradition of designing big dreams. Visit the new exhibition Teenage Dreams and take in the photo exhibition Capture Your City 2024 that shows new visions of the aesthetics of the future. Find inspiration in the DAC Design Shop where, in addition to a large selection of Danish design classics, you can find pop-up installations with selected Danish brands.  

About Danish Architecture Center 

Danish Architecture Center (DAC) is an international cultural attraction that creates engaging experiences and generates debate about architecture and design. At DAC you can experience exhibitions, tours, events, and buy design products. You can also enjoy the spectacular view of the city from the café’s large rooftop terraces.

The financial basis is a public-private partnership between Realdania and the Danish government. The Danish government is represented by the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens.  

 

Facts about 3daysofdesign 2024 

  • During 3daysofdesign, from June 12 to June 14, entrance to the exhibition Teenage Dreams is free. You must buy a ticket to see the other exhibitions.  
  • This is the third time that Danish Architecture Center is part of the 3daysofdesign festival.  
  • DAC Design Shop is committed to ensuring that all our products, items, and books align with our vision of a sustainable future. This commitment is also part of DAC’s certification as a green destination – Green Attraction. 
  • Selected products include Barbara Marstrand’s book “Still life of Teenagers” and “Danish Design History – volumes 1 & 2” from Strandberg Publi-shing. 
  • In collaboration with Our Shift, selected items such as tote bags, rain covers and the activist doll with string are sold – all produced from surplus tent cloth from the Roskilde Festival. 
  • On the opening day, the design brand August Sandgreen gives free bookmarks to everyone who buys a book, and the fragrance brand Porcelain distributes samples of their perfumes.