Exhibiting in one of the world's greatest pieces of architecture, the Sydney Opera House, evokes feelings of pride and respect for both the architect, Jørn Utzon, and those who took a risk in choosing this competition project back in 1956.

Today, more than ever we need to collaborate and take a risk on design in order to move ahead, break down barriers and open up to new understandings of how we embody future design and architecture for future living.

Compared to Utzon's masterpiece Danish Design at the House is a temporary, curated exhibition that we hope will resonate to bring on a new impression of both classic and contemporary Danish design.

The exhibition inhabits and transforms the six sculpted bay windows in the Western Foyer of the Sydney Opera House - an architectonical element Utzon first developed for his own house in Majorca in 1972 and which he evolved further for the Sydney Opera House some 35 years later. Holding a magnificent design story in their own right.

These windows provide ready-made exhibition cases evident for organizing the exhibition. Within each of the six enlarged windows, six young Danish architects have been asked to arrange six temporary installations, each focusing on a significant property within Danish design practice: Desire, Human, Pragmatism, Technology, Craft and Materiality.

Engaging the six architects to design a window inside Utzon's window adds an extra layer to the exhibition, not only in terms of showcasing products exclusively and differently from that of a fair ground aesthetic but also as means of explaining the valuable coherence between design, craft and architecture. The idea of exhibiting Danish design products along with fine Danish craft likewise contributes to the core of the exhibition. The unique juxtaposition of design, craft and architecture - and how they mutually influence each other - builds on a long lasting Danish tradition of thinking and shaping through materials, representing a holistic attitude and a great sense of human scale. And it is a way to understand how Danish design evolves, based on a tradition of working between craft and technology, and with the ability to combine pragmatics and functionality with emotional desire. These are all properties that qualify Danish design.

We wish to thank the Danish design companies, the skilled crafts people, the selected designers and the architects who have co-created the exhibition together with us.

Gerard Reinmuth (AU) and Karen Kjærgaard (DK)
Curators