Danish Delight

Pared-back, simplified and modest: Danish design is known for not shouting. The same could hardly be said for its lighting industry though, which has long been recognised for its slight whimsy, whether that’s the flapping flashiness of Poul Henningsen’s Artichoke chandelier or the playground appeal of a Flowerpot by Verner Panton. Yet there is one lighting brand that has long trodden the quiet road. In the 47 years since it was established, Darø has built up a solid portfolio of neat and durable lighting, playing largely to the home market with its implicitly understated Danish style. With new ownership and remodelled design direction, however, that is all set to change.

In 2013, Thomas Darø took control of the family company that was established by his father Kjeld Darø in 1969, in the Jutland town of Randers. Thomas had grown up immersed in the trade, assembling lamps in his father’s factory after school, and the takeover proved a daunting but positive opportunity. “It was a huge and exciting challenge,” says Darø junior. “And also a bit scary having to continue the legacy of more than 40 years’ work. I did however have a clear vision about where I wanted to take the company and made that clear from the beginning.”

The first task was refreshing the entire design profile of the company. Up until then, the design team consisted of father and son, and Thomas had designed many of the brand’s core pieces, such as the Architect task light and Fiora wall lamp. He decided it was time for some fresh air, and few years ago drafted in external designers for the first time in Darø’s history. “Designers bring ideas about new waves of manufacturing, new materials and new concepts,” explains Niels Svolgaard, who was hired by Darø to handle sales and marketing in 2015. “We want to seek inspiration from living, breathing designers of today.”

Uncommonly, Darø collaborates largely with designers that have little to no experience in commercial or decorative lighting – which both Darø and Svolgaard see as an exciting asset. “Not being bound by the dos and don’ts of the lighting industry is an interesting part of the design process,” explains Svolgaard. A designer’s fresh ideas and the manufacturer’s expert experience, built up over four decades, is a dynamic pairing. “We have all the knowledge in-house of what is possible and what is not, and we work with them from the conceptual idea to the final product,” continues Svolgaard.

The pendant light Bell+ was one of the first projects undertaken within this new working relationship. Darø paired up with industrial designer Thomas Holst Madsen, the founder of ModellerBox, to create the piece. Bell+’s simple aluminum shade is suspended on an oak bar, which means it can be tilted in a configuration of angles, allowing easy, manual control over the direction of light. It was declared the winner of the German Design Award Special Mention in the Excellent Product Design category last year for its canny simplicity, and signalled a new design-led direction for the Darø portfolio.

Bell+ sums up Darø’s belief that products should have elements of both cleverness and surprise. The pendant is clever in that it can direct light in almost any direction; and it is surprising because there are no mechanics used to achieve this. It’s simply a case of natural forces at work. “The company is generally driven by a strong desire and passion to challenge the status quo; in the search for surprisingly clever designs that have the potential to become ‘tomorrow’s classics’,” explains Darø on how the simple mechanism of Bell+ encapsulates the brand’s design philosophy. “Solutions that surprise but never shock.”

The Arkiturbine series, released in 2015 and designed by Hans Christian Asmussen, reinforces this ethos. The lamp is digitally manufactured – one single piece of aluminum is laser-cut and then cleverly fabricated into a 3-dimensional construction without the use of any welding, bolts or screws. It was nominated for a London Design Award last year. “The architectural fusions are hidden away by the glades of the turbine,” explains Svolgaard. “The design features are understated, which is a typically Danish asset. They are not highlighted, but hinted at and that’s part of the surprise.”

Both the minimal Bell+ and sculptural Arkiturbine are aesthetically in the Danish tradition, although very distinct in manner. Rather than forcing an identifiable house style – and perhaps being bound by that – Darø chooses to create a variety of product with longevity in mind. “We want to focus on challenging what is possible with light, without getting gimmicky,” says Svolgaard. The brand plans to release no more than one light each year, working with a revolving door of young talent and unrivalled manufacturing knowledge to further cement its reputation in the marketplace. It is time to finally stand out, as Darø makes clear: “We want to develop new ways of creating aesthetically pleasing lighting that makes a statement both ‘on’ and ‘off’.”

© Architonic