Day 25-3. Copenhagen; sightseeing.
We'd decided to wander over to Christianshavn as it was sort of on the way to the Danish Design Centre. We ran out of town along the Børsgade and then along the Torvegade. Although there is a lot of Christianhavn to see we limited ourselves to turning right at the water and following the path that ran round the old defensive bulwarks. If we had turned left this would also have taken us further away from design centre.
This was interesting to see, as the same defensive technology is to be found all over Europe. The old centre of Utrecht is protected in a similar way, at corners in the canals earthworks stick out into the water. It was clear that these defences had not been needed for some time, the land behind them was full of appartment blocks and offices.
Before we knew it we were outside the design centre. We'd read that they had an exhibition of bikes and bike related items, so were quite looking forward to visiting the centre. We wandered in and paid for our entrance fee only to discover that the cycle exhibition was closed as they, were using it for a private function. Ho hum. Oh well we're in the capital city of the European capital of design so the rest should be good. Not.
Close to the entrance was a small selection of items deemed to be of interest because of their design. These were things you could actually buy. There were some things that, if we had been travelling by camper instead of bikes, we might have bought. They fell into the 'that's a neat idea but would I actually use it' class of objects. We have enough stuff on our bikes so taking things that 'might just be useful' has a low priority. Actually many of the items reminded me of things you'd find in those 'Innovations' catalogues that somehow found their way into my letterbox when I used to live in Salford 7.
To Damae's delight she discovered that her heavy but nice camping cutlery set was for sale there. Cool. Well that was a plus point, but besides a collection of clothing that interested Damae for fifteen minutes, it was sadly the last of the positives in this experience. We wandered through the rooms completely missing the sense of fun and inspiration we'd experienced in Illums Bolighus the day before. Perhaps we were expecting too much but we were left wondering what the purpose of the Danish Design Centre was, that is, besides closing off its most interesting exhibitions for private functions!
Our worst fears were confirmed by two more things. In a room just off the main space on the ground floor we discovered some 'prize winning' objects. Among them was this 'sofa' which as you will see from the plaque was awarded a prize for not only form but function. Hmmmm. It looked like a component of one of those nested desk tidy systems that became popular in the late seventies and early eighties, so failed to impress on the appearance grounds. I then did the 'fuh-lumpf' test and dropped onto the sofa to see how it sat and whether or not it enveloped me and cherished me. Errr no, neither of the above. Not only was the foam rock hard the backrest was way too low. The only way you could sit on it vaguely comfortably was to use it as a stool and perch on the front edge. I've sat on more comfortable rocks........in winter.......in the rain......at the top of Scafell Pike........in a force ten gale.