• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
    • Privacy

Home Style Create

Making your space your home

  • Design
  • Style
    • Beauty
    • Wardrobe
  • Life Hacks
  • Create
  • Pets

Kristian Vedel’s BIRD – Modern Danish Design

January 10, 2017 By Helen 24 Comments

BIRD by Kristen Vedel is an affordable modern architect led Danish design classic, that would fit into any home.
Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

I’ve been thinking about minimalism for some time now.  Of course minimalism means many, many different things to different people. All too often people take it to mean stripping down your possessions to a bare minimum and living a existence in a bare monk like cell.  That sounds way too uncomfortable for me, as well as very impractical as the nature of my job means that I need quite a bit of equipment, as well as props.

At its essence minimalism is about less stuff, be it physical, mental or things you have to do.   I find too much of this amorphous stuff intensely stressful, as well as energy sapping, and have been working hard to dump it, delegate it, get it done sooner or not acquire it in the first place.   I don’t think it is matter of better organisation, which seems to help with the stuff problem, but in reality is just a coping mechanism.

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful
– William Morris

With regard to the physical stuff, I think William Morris was spot on, and one of the reasons that I am never going to live a pared down existence is that I like beautiful things.  They uplift,  refresh, inspire and energise me.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

One of my favourite possessions, are my pair of BIRDs, designed by Danish architect Kristen Vedel.   They are undeniably simple, but beautifully designed to be so expressive.  Made from two pieces, the body can be turned either way up, the head can be rotated or tilted to completely change the bird’s character and mood.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

Bird is made by ARCHITECTMADE, a Danish company making and selling household objects designed by architects.  As you would expect their designs are sleek, modern, minimal as well as beautiful.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

Kristen Vedel (1923 – 2003) was a graduate of the Danish School of Arts and Crafts, he lectured there after gradating, spent four years from 1968 working at the university of Nairobi, before retiring to Denmark.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

Vedel designed the family of BIRDs in 1959 – in two sizes, parent and child, as well as a shorter, squat grandparent bird.   Originally only the smaller bird was made, and it became one of the most popular Danish wooden products from the1960s.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

Nowadays the whole BIRD family is made by ARCHITECTMADE, a Danish company making and selling household objects designed by architects, they use a specialist woodturner to make the birds, in both natural and smoked oak.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

By turning the bodies the other way up, the birds can be male or female, and you can tile the head in any direction, expressing a huge range of emotions, happy, sad, quizzical, sleepy etc.  I find it quite astonishing just how expressive they can be.

Bird by Kristian Vedel - Architect Made - Modern Danish Design

The three BIRDs (chubby not photographed, but I so want one to complete the family) are available in natural and smoked oak at £39/£49/£59 each.  An affordable investment piece you will have forever.

My BIRDs were personal gifts which I wanted to share.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Design

About Helen

Helen is a Freelance writer

Previous Post: « The 1980 LEGO Catalogue – A meander down memory lane
Next Post: Natura Siberica Royal Caviar Eye Cream & Serum »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura Wilson says

    February 20, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    These are just gorgeous. I have somewhere some 1960’s wooden birds that sit on a glass, they look just like these but with a small groove to fit on a glass edge! I wonder if they are related in some way? I love their simplicity but also love that the heads alter to change the look, just fab!

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:28 pm

      I’ve seen the type of birds you have, not sure of their origin; but certainly a similar look.

      Reply
  2. Jo says

    February 20, 2017 at 2:08 pm

    They are beautiful. I love birds so am drawn to them anyway. They’re very simple but gorgeous. It makes me want to ‘minimise’ my house and just have a few special ornaments on display.

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:35 pm

      I do love the simplicity of the design, so simple yet so effective.

      Reply
  3. Jon says

    February 20, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Wow they look amazing! They remind me of the woodpecker from Bagpuss!!

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:35 pm

      Yes, gosh I remember Bagpuss. Professor Snaffle or such like.

      Reply
  4. Talya says

    February 20, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    Love these birds they are so simple and quirky thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:38 pm

      There is something simply wonderful about them isn’t there.

      Reply
  5. Sophie says

    February 20, 2017 at 5:37 pm

    I’m in love with these birds! I have a lovely affair with Scandinavian minimalism <3

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:43 pm

      They are very wonderful aren’t they.

      Reply
  6. Ana De- Jesus says

    February 20, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    So true the definition of minimalism is always open to interpretation, for me it means a state of mind as well as a representation of simplicity x

    Reply
    • Jen says

      February 20, 2017 at 6:45 pm

      Absolutely. For me the chaos of Motherhood and such has created such disarray in my house, that I crave that part of me that wants things back to “normal”. Whatever normal is. I’m still wondering.

      Reply
  7. Fashion and Style Police says

    February 21, 2017 at 8:12 am

    These are so beautiful. They would look great in my home.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      February 21, 2017 at 4:33 pm

      I am collecting the entire family!

      Reply
  8. Anosa says

    February 21, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    This is my first-time to see architecture birds and I liked all the designs! I agree with you as it suits on the minimalistic designs. Simple and elegant pieces.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      February 21, 2017 at 4:33 pm

      I adore them. So simple, but also so expressive.

      Reply
  9. Kara says

    February 21, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    They are adorable. I always worry about ornaments with kids about but these look pretty sturdy

    Reply
    • Helen says

      February 27, 2017 at 2:09 pm

      If you threw them onto a tiled floor or stamped on them they might come to grief, but I think that dropping on to a carpeted floor would be fine. Even standing on, but it you caught the beak at the wrong angle it might snap.

      Reply
  10. Charlotte says

    February 21, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    These are so lovely! I definitely need to work on living a pared-down existence, I am a bit of a hoarder :p

    Reply
    • Helen says

      March 9, 2017 at 10:56 am

      I’d so much rather have fewer nicer things.

      Reply
  11. Baby Isabella says

    February 22, 2017 at 4:57 pm

    What a beautiful miniature sculpture. My mummy could do with adopting a more minimal lifestyle!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      March 9, 2017 at 10:54 am

      I think we all need to be more minimal.

      Reply
  12. Lindsey says

    February 23, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    What beautiful birds, they look truly divine

    Reply
    • Helen says

      February 27, 2017 at 2:08 pm

      I love them so much.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Find Us on Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Copyright © 2021 Fuss Free Living - Website by Callia Web