Design Museum Denmark: Unexpectedly Cerebral

Normally, museums follow a predictable pattern, but not this one.  Recently moved to what had been Frederick’s Hospital, the entrance to the Design Museum Denmark opens unto a large hall with a gorgeous garden straight ahead, a café on the left and the shop with ticket sales on the right.  Given that we arrived thirsty and hungry, we headed straight for the café….

Once satiated and ticketed, we followed the path to the “Future is Present” which was less an exhibit than a series of challenges starting with: What will humans want in the future? The answer was on the labels of hundreds of identically labeled bottles, each labeled “care.”

What will humans look like in the future? Human avatars on display, dressed to minimize contact with toxic earth or alternatively, intellectual sensory receiving units.

How will we remember our earth? An exhibit zooming the viewer into an ocean scene, or a meadow scene, complete with artificial scent.

What will our values be?  In response, viewers see themselves in a hall of mirrors; obviously the answers are up to us. 

From there, the path leads to “Patterns” featuring huge beautiful hangings of patterned/recycled material through which you literally wander.  We never made it to the second half of the museum, which may have been more traditional and less thought provoking.  The gift shop is almost exclusively books, very few trinkets and toys.  Altogether, very cerebral and impactful. 

On our trek to the museum, we meandered through Nyhavn, the world’s most photographed colorful housing.  Bob was in his element, as you can see. 

We also ducked through the courtyard of Amelienborg Palace with its numerous museums, but the temperature was 84 degrees and humidity high, so we didn’t stay.  Home again, past the Mermaid in the harbor, this shot is from our balcony. 

It’s a sea day tomorrow with more lectures, then Stockholm where my frivolous adventure of riding a car to the top of a Geodesic dome has been cancelled.  Sigh.  Back to the drawing board.  Our first trip to Stockholm allowed us to witness the rehearsal for the wedding of the Princess, with all the pageantry and royal carriages.  That won’t happen again.

We calculated tonight that we spent the first 8 days of this cruise together, then the next 10 days in various isolation protocols, and now 6 days of togetherness, and are past the halfway point for the cruise. Bob overhead a crew member’s comment today that they were running out of “spare cabins” in which to isolate spouses from one another. Not a good sign, so keep your fingers crossed for us. I do enjoy your comments, too…thank you for them!