There are many similarities between Danish and Japanese design. Even though the two traditions have developed out of very different aesthetic, societal and economic conditions, there is a striking similarity between the designs produced in the two countries. Simplicity, purity and a certain respect towards the materials create a tight/straight kind of aesthetic, which may take its starting point in logic and functionality, but which is never cold.

This similarity is illuminated in the exhibition Second Nature. In both the Japanese and the Danish approach to design, there is a strong presence of a minimalist ideal, an approach that is anonymous but never impersonal. The approach is anonymous in a positive sense, because each object is ready to be used without being too assuming in its expression. But the object never becomes impersonal because each object’s form and material is expressive.

Fundamentally, the Danish history of design is built on a social democratic design ideal.

Good design was supposed to be for the whole of society. It was supposed to improve, and not the least, make the everyday lives of ordinary citizen more attractive. A long list of classical Danish designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl and Hans J. Wegner – who continue to inspire the contemporary designers – have been born out of this design ideal. This is seen clearly in the exhibition, where names such as Niels Hvass, Christina Strand and Cecilie Manz elegantly carry on this tradition of a pure style.

I use the term “pure style” in order to emphasize that the Danish tradition of design makes up an unbroken line and hasn’t been strongly influenced by shifting trends. The development which has taken place within the tradition, and which is represented by the designers in this exhibition, points directly to the values that defi ne the Danish tradition. They all take their starting point in a humanist worldview, which places human beings at the centre.

This means that Danish design traditionally communicates directly with the users. Functionality and aesthetics meet in products that are at once sensory, emotional and functional. The materials are often natural – wood, textile, ceramics, glass – and the craftsmanship is highly valued, which means that the sensory qualities are emphasized. Thus the products communicate a certain openness.

They communicate a positive set of values at a user level, a subtle form of aesthetics, which aims at pleasing the mind and the body. This is exactly where the emotional comes in and the appearance is anonymous without being impersonal.

The products never rise above the user; rather, they enter into a dialogue with the user.

A dialogue begins because the user senses the care that has gone into the product – a care and concern that the physical need for functionality and the emotional need for aesthetics and beauty are met.

This is where we find the connection to Japanese design. The Japanese tradition of design is deeply infl uenced by a spiritual outlook on life originating mostly in Buddhism and Shintoism, both living religions today. An important part of Japanese culture – which has its roots far back in Japanese history – is spiritual growth, cultivated through meditation and ceremonies. Existing in the present is part of the path towards enlightenment. Everyday objects and the manufacturing of these are in this sense of major importance. Thus traditional crafts have a different status in Japan than they have in the West.

The so-called Mingei-tradition is a good example of this. Formulated by the Japanese philosopher in the 1920s, the crafts that came out of this tradition expressed a wish to bring beauty to the people in the shape of anonymous, handcrafted objects, which were supposed to be functional in everyday life. What defined the Mingei tradition was the connection between the anonymous product and the personality of each object.

No cup or vase was alike, and this is what gave each object its life, meaning and thereby – its beauty. Thus the user has played an important role within Japanese and Danish design. Each object is subjected to an all-important concern for the user. And it’s true for both traditions that physical-functional and aesthetic-emotional concerns are equally important. Thus the concern for the body and the soul is an integrated part of both traditions.

Second Nature shows us where this development has come to today. The exhibition is a meeting between two cultures whose designs are influenced by mutual fascination and inspiration. The exhibition shows how the concern regarding human beings and spirituality – within Japanese and Danish design traditions – produces a surprisingly similar result: objects that contain a certain delicate sensory awareness.

Within this awareness the body and soul, as well as people, become connected. The tactile and sensory object bears witness to its own production process and the careful concern that was put into it. In this way it links to a social and meditative pro cess: meditative, because it insists on a conscious and sensory lifestyle; and, social, because it becomes a communication link between the designer and the user, mirroring the concern of the designer.

In the exhibition Second Nature, the immediate joy arising when we experience beauty and tactile sensory awareness is reviewed. We are invited to an opening of an exhibition that focuses on real engagement with our surroundings, in a time when existing models of society have become outdated. Being robbed of authentic and tactile sensory experiences has, step by step, removed us from ourselves and from the feeling of what is truly important.