Noah Living and architects TERROIR x Sarah Fredelund transform Kunsthal Charlottenborg into a sensory CPH:DOX center

The furniture for this year’s festival center at Kunsthal Charlottenborg is supplied by Berlin-based furniture manufacturer Noah Living. According to Cille Veje Vedersø, Head of Communications at Noah Living, the company and CPH:DOX is a perfect match:

“CPH:DOX’s identity is dynamic and curious – and our furniture reflects the same approach: it is flexible, malleable and durable and supports both the festival’s and the architects’ vision of creating a present environment where people gather, think and engage with each other. (…) Our mission is to develop furniture that combines aesthetics, functionality and durability. With modularity as a basic principle, our furniture can adapt and grow with its users. CPH:DOX and TERROIR x Sarah Fredelund have had a vision to create a sensuous, flexible and responsible environment, which aligns with our modular design, carefully selected materials and focus on sustainability.”

Recycling and collage
For architects TERROIR x Sarah Fredelund – consisting of Mikkel Møller Roesdahl, Lead Designer from TERROIR, and architect and lighting designer Sarah Fredelund – the reuse of materials has been central to the design process. Instead of creating something new from scratch, they have chosen a curated and redesigned staging of Kunsthal Charlottenborg, reusing materials from previous years’ festivals and minimizing the use of new materials:

“Festival architecture is temporary and therefore rarely sustainable. We wanted to change that. Our spatial staging has therefore been based on a registration of everything the festival has left from previous years, and the difficult design task has been to gather this into a new and coherent expression,” says Mikkel Møller Roesdahl.

In collaboration with Noah Living, they have experimented with using the furniture in new ways and creating unique textile combinations that harmonize with the festival’s identity. At the same time, the interior design reflects CPH:DOX’s visual identity for 2025, created by the festival’s art director Viktor Aabo.

“Derived from this year’s visual identity, we work with the ‘collage’, but in a spatial format. Creating new images and expressions by reworking existing material. And with this year’s signature red color, which becomes a consistent wayfinding element, we refine and highlight the meeting of materials and provide a rich tactility and level of detail,” says Sarah Fredelund.

The visual identity has been translated into the themes ‘The Collage’ and ‘The Red Thread’, which have been developed three-dimensionally – both in physical and digital models – to best reflect Charlottenborg’s special spatiality and volume. The result is a unique interior design in four of Kunsthal Charlottenborg’s spaces that will each support their own function during CPH:DOX: the Social Cinema, the foyer Socialize, the work and meeting room Meet and the break zone Contemplation.

“The collaboration with Noah Living has played beautifully into the ‘collage’ as a guiding principle, as their furniture can be put together in a myriad of ways, taken apart and reborn in new constellations,” says Mikkel Møller Roesdahl.

Democratic participation
The design at Kunsthal Charlottenborg is created with an ambition to unite CPH:DOX’s focus on democratic participation with a more accessible experience for guests.

“Our furniture design supports this by creating spaces where people can meet, listen and discuss in the moment. The modularity of our furniture makes it possible to adapt the interior as needed – just as the festival itself changes and creates new, relevant experiences,” says Cille Veje Vedersø from Noah Living.

TERROIR x Sarah Fredelund has also focused on creating a design that invites guests to stop, observe and participate:

“One of the strengths of documentaries is their ability to challenge perspectives. In line with this, the rooms encourage the eye to explore and delve deeper – to take time and be present in your surroundings,” says Sarah Fredelund.

It has been crucial to ensure that everyone can move freely and that no one is placed on the fringes of the community. The bar is designed at different heights to accommodate different needs, and the spaces allow for both social interaction and individual breaks.

“There is still plenty of room for improvement, but through CPH:DOX we have tried to take the first steps towards creating more inclusive and diverse festivals,” concludes Sarah Fredelund.

Take the festival furniture home with you!
If you want to take part of the festival home with you, you have the opportunity to buy Noah Living furniture after the festival at a 35% discount. Follow us on our social media channels where we will announce more information about this during the festival.

Otherwise, you can always contact Noah Living through Cille Veje Vedersø (cille@noah-living.com) or architects Sarah Fredelund (sfn@fredelund.com) and Mikkel Moller Roesdahl (roesdahl@terroir.dk).