A lightweight coffin and an aestheticised pill box feature in Anker Bak's exhibition about empathetic design for the elderly as part of this year's 3 Days of Design festival in Copenhagen.
The second solo show from the Danish furniture designer and cabinetmaker, called The Furniture We Need, features products designed over recent years including a coffin made for his dying grandmother.
The Furniture We Need is on show in an old watchtower. Top image by Carsten Ingemann
On show in a converted copper-clad watchtower, the exhibition explores Bak's philosophy of "dignity design" for physically challenged users.
"My designs are inspired by personal experiences with people in need of dignified and practical solutions," Bak said when explaining his "open, honest approach to design and construction". Among the designs by Anker Bak is a cane that turns into a stool
Bak created the Ro coffin while living with his elderly grandparents and suggested its development was part of his grieving process, as he witnessed them coming towards the end of their lives.
The coffin was informed by the architecture of churches ? their arches and soft lighting. It is made from moulded veneer to create a curved profile that reduces material use.
The Cirkelstok cane has a circular handle
"In life, death is the only thing we can be sure of, but we rarely talk about it," Bak said. "It has become a taboo we avoid because the system takes care of most things surr...