As part of “Copenhagen 3 Days of Design”, our studio – comprising 16 students – was invited to design and build a fireplace for the Swiss Embassy in Denmark.
The process began with handcrafting 830 oversized bricks from three different types of clay. These non-modular bricks, due to their large dimensions, limited both the overall footprint of the fireplace and the range of possible patterns. Their varied colours, textures, and visual expressions sparked reactions and, at times, disagreements within the group.

The physical nature of clay – its weight, drying time, firing, cooling, and transport – influenced not only the construction but also the design process itself.

The warmth of a fireplace, or the roughness of a brick’s surface, may evoke memories or stir the imagination – transporting us across time and space.

Design not only addresses immediate problems, but it can also create opportunities and inspire enjoyment—bringing us closer to a world where people with different bodily abilities and preferences can coexist.
In this case, the choice to work with simple representational media and basic architectural elements is not about ease or efficiency. Rather, it is about locating critical potential in what is essential.

To complete the fireplace, I collaborated with two students—Benjamin Bill and Nick Love—to create the cooking tools: a poker and a grill. The handles are made from oak with leather grips. They can be used as skewers or roasting sticks.