A
PhD Research Fellow
Institute of Design and Visual Interaction
Katrine Brahe Hall
Katrine Brahe Hall is a PhD candidate and design historian examining the discipline of design management - the strategic and organisational dimensions of design practice - in the Danish design field since the 1970s. Her work explores how historical research can inform and enrich contemporary design practice, policy, and education.
Succes via Design. A critical history of thought and practice in Danish design management.
Design management emerged as a significant force in reshaping Danish design from the 1970s onwards, yet this dimension of Danish design history remains substantially undocumented within design historiography. The prevailing narrative of Danish design has traditionally centred on a canon of iconic objects and named designers, anchored in the aesthetic ideals of the so-called Golden Age. This narrow framing has obscured an equally significant development: the introduction of design management as a strategic discourse that repositioned design as a tool for organisational development, business strategy, and institutional innovation.
The research addresses this historiographical gap by examining how design management, as both a practice and institutional formation, shaped Denmark's identity as a design nation. Through three case studies - the Danish Design Centre, the Danish State Railways (DSB), and Danish governmental design policies - the project traces how design was strategically deployed and valued within these contexts. Rather than simply recovering a "lost" history, the research asks how design management constituted design differently: what understandings of design's purpose and potential did it articulate, and how did those compete with, complement, or reshape the dominant Golden Age narrative?
The analysis draws on genealogical approaches combined with actor-network theory to examine how design's meaning and institutional role were historically constituted. By documenting and critically analysing this underdocumented dimension of Danish design history, the project contributes to richer understandings of design's strategic and organisational significance - resources that inform contemporary practice, policy development, and design education.