For the 2026 edition of the Copenhagen design festival, Savo turns the spotlight on the office chair, an object that quietly shapes our everyday lives.
Bringing together voices from across creative disciplines, the exhibition shows how everyday seating can become a space for ideas, expression and new perspectives.
Despite being one of the most widely used objects in everyday life, the office chair remains largely overlooked by the design world. ‘The office chair reimagined’ questions why this continues to be the case and explores the potential of workplace seating when viewed through a more creative lens.
Savo has invited nine creatives from across architecture, design, music, writing, and visual culture to reinterpret a Savo chair of their choice through their own distinct approach. By putting this widely used but culturally underappreciated object on the pedestal it deserves, ‘The office chair’ reimagined shows how workplace seating can become a culturally relevant design object in its own right.
CAN architecture studio approaches Savo’s chair through an eclectic and material-led lens. Known for creating architecture and objects that challenge the ordinary and enhance everyday life, the London-based studio combines architectural thinking with an experimental approach to colour, texture, and composition.
For the exhibition, the studio developed three designs through a collaborative “exquisitive corpse” process, where each designer selected a fabric or colour in sequences without visibility of the previous choice. The result is an intentionally layered and unexpected material composition that reflects the studio’s characteristically playful style.
Known for creating autobiographical fragrances influenced by her Scandinavian and Gambian heritage, perfumer Maya Njie’s practice combines experimentation, memory, and sensory experience. Applying this same approach to her interpretation of Savo Invite, Njie has developed a chair that conveys warmth, tactility, and optimism.
A palette of yellow and green summons a sense of clarity and energy, colours that Njie feels are “mentally stimulating, like the dawn of something new.” This contemporary colour scheme is balanced with warm cream tones and softened edges – a Mid-Century reference inspired by Njie’s 1930s medicine cabinet.
Danish photographer and filmmaker Morten Nordstrøm is drawn to objects that feel personal, enduring, and easy to live with. Working across analogue and digital photography, he seeks to capture a sense of timelessness with his work – an approach that informed his take on the Savo Studio office chair.
Inspired by Savo’s restrained design language, historic industrial furniture, and Scandinavian natural tones, Nordstrøm developed a chair centred around warmth, texture, and longevity. Earthy tones and tactile fabrics are contrasted by chrome frame and wheel details, balancing softness and structure to create a chair that feels sophisticated, timeless, and physically inviting for years to come.
London-based writer and editor Alice Morby approaches Savo Joi as a flexible companion that supports the different facets of everyday life. Having spent the past decade writing for leading design and architecture publications, Morby brings an editorial approach to her interpretation, drawing influence from Italian modernist interiors.
Designed in response to compact city living, Morby repositions the office stool as a more versatile everyday object – suited to work, rest, and creative activity. She opted for a warm green, pairing the soft tone with chrome details to add an industrial character.
The leather upholstery introduces a sense of longevity: “something that would age with me as I use the chair,” explains Morby.
Strategy studio and publisher studio playground collaborated with Helsinki-based artist, illustrator, and surface designer Antti Kalevi to create a chair that feels warm, graphic, and visually energetic. Known for his painterly yet graphic compositions, Kalevi translates everyday surroundings into bold arrangements of shape, shadow, and colour.
For this year’s exhibition, Kalevi transformed the Issue 5 cover artwork of studio playground’s biannual magazine Playground into a custom print pattern. Together, Kalevi and studio playground curated the pattern placement and wider CMF direction, balancing earthy tones with touches of red and brighter accents. Printed onto velvet, the fabric introduces texture, depth, and a more playful design expression.
Swedish musician and producer Axel Boman brings Savo Joi to life – approaching the chair as an animated object rather than a purely functional product. Known for his playful and unexpected approach to electronic music, Boman developed the concept around the idea of a “techno punk” personality: dark, tactile, and slightly unconventional.
Chrome and hair-inspired textures informed the material choices, creating a chair defined by contrast with a distinctive attitude. A palette of black and silver reinforces the “freaky” mood Boman intended the design to project.
Architect, writer, and co-founder of POoR Collective, Shawn Adams uses Savo Invite to reimagine the visual language of workplace seating. With a practice spanning architecture, writing, community engagement, and social value, Adams’ work is steered by an interest in how design shapes everyday experience and interaction.
His design challenges the anonymity often associated with office furniture, repositioning the chair as a more tactile and expressive object. Inspired by changing workplace culture following the COVID-19 pandemic, the chair underscores the personal nature of office seating. An earthy palette summons warmth and composure, while patterned fabrics, detailed stitching, and polished metal elements introduce contrast, tactility, and visual depth.
Danish designer and host of The Sound of Colour podcast Sarah Gottlieb interprets Savo 360 and Savo Spine through the relationship between colour, material, and perception. Shaped by her interest in how people experience their surroundings, Gottlieb’s designs explore how a single palette shifts in character when translated across different surfaces and textures.
Working with tones of blue and reddish brown, Gottlieb brings together contrasts between warm and cool, soft and structured, familiar and expressive. Leather, coloured wood, powder-coated metal, and textile influence how colour and depth are perceived, creating a layered material dialogue across the two chairs.
Berlin-based interiors and creative consultant Christoph Kuemmecke reimagines Savo’s XO meeting chair through a Mid-Century lens. With a background spanning interior styling, content, and set design, Kuemmecke’s approach combines minimalism with a sense of warmth and comfort.
Inspired by the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., the chair balances the functionality of contemporary office seating with the pared-back aesthetic of Mid-Century design. Earthy brown tones are deliberately juxtaposed by the recycled cast aluminium five arm swivel base and chrome casters.
Visitors of ‘The office chair reimagined’ are invited into the Joi Room, an interactive space dedicated to Savo Joi, one of the brand’s most playful and expressive chairs. Built around movement, interaction, and play, the room encourages to sit, move, and engage with workplace seating in a more fun and informal way.
As part of its presentation at 3daysofdesign, Savo’s has released a new white paper exploring the cultural perception of office seating. Backed by original data and expert insights, the report reframes the office chair into a subject worthy of attention, critique, and conversation.
Highlights from the research are presented throughout the exhibition, with the full paper available digitally.
Photography by Morten Nordstrøm
Event: 3daysofdesign
Location: Odd Fellow Palace, Bredgade 28 – second floor, 1260 Copenhagen
Date: 10-12 June 2026
Time: 10AM–6PM
Guided breakfast sessions: Every day, 10AM–10:45AM