It all started as a rebellious thought: to live in the space between architecture and interiors. A design duo took their classical design training and began exercising a new frame of thinking in order to defy norms within upholstery and art. This is none other than Space Copenhagen.

Signe Bindslev Henriksen and Peter Bundgaard Rützou were just students at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture when they met and were tracked to become direct competitors in the world of Copenhagen design. But instead, they did something different. This pair not only had mutual interests and talents but also frustrations around the same subject matter. Their design education prepared them for theory, for aesthetic excellence, but not for the humdrum practicality of designing for everyday life.

"When we came out of school we tried to incorporate something more intuitive and unpredictable, which forces you to investigate how you engage with spaces, the actual surroundings that you are placed in, how we as human beings actually interact, not from an aesthetic point of view but from a mental wellbeing point of view," Henriksen said to Design Curial. So they decided to do something together, creating Space Copenhagen in 2005, with the idea to bring a humanist approach to form, function, and appearance.Their rebellion becomes particularly apparent when you zone in on their attention to detail, propelling them to design great pieces but also cohesive projects:

"We are obsessed with the material part. It is almost a passion for us to create something, that embodies a slow pace."

Think about the Swoon Chair – it's the perfect intersection between a lounge chair and an armchair, as well as carefully toying the line between organic and structured. They know exactly where to push and where to pull back.

You can't call anything they do industrial, or a commodity focusing only on the pushing of goods along a conveyer belt. They want to remain emotive, wowed by the sensory, and present to interpret every design project they come across. Every stitch is meticulous, every design is purposeful – often creating furniture specifically for a project, like the Loafer Lounge Chair created to offer a moment of intimacy in the sweeping interiors of the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

A few of our favorite Space Copenhagen installations:

If there is anyone to aspire to be – it's these two, they have mastered industrial design, interior design, art directing, and whatever else is hidden in their armoire full of talents just waiting to burst into the frame.