Singaporean designer Jade Chan is making her mark in Copenhagen with Christian+Jade
With Danish partner Christian Hammer Juhl, Chan has built a design practice shaped by craft, material experimentation and an instinct for making by hand.
Singaporean designer Jade Chan and her Danish partner Christian Hammer Juhl have carved a unique niche in Copenhagen's design scene with their studio, Christian+Jade. The duo, who met while studying at Design Academy Eindhoven, have built a practice grounded in craft, material experimentation, and a hands-on approach to design.
Their Reflecting Flame wall candleholder showcases the studio's distinctive aesthetic, with the smooth surface of the aluminum material contoured and coarse, its hand-hammered surface accentuated by the flickering candlelight. The linoleum used in their Beginnings & Endings installation at Copenhagen's 3 Days of Design takes on a fabric-like quality when draped over furniture, demonstrating the studio's ability to surprise the viewer with unexpected material qualities.
The tensions between material, craft, and function have been a central focus for the pair, who aim to let the inherent properties of a material guide the design process rather than controlling it entirely. This approach was evident in their work with hammered and untouched areas of a single sheet of aluminum, as Chan explained, "Rather than controlling the material completely, we tried to let its properties guide the design and determine how each project would take shape."
Their material-led approach has garnered international recognition, earning them a spot on Maison&Objet's Rising Talents list and inclusion in Dwell 24's annual list of emerging designers. In 2024, Christian+Jade was awarded a three-year working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation for their work on The Age of Wood, an exhibition exploring humanity's relationship with wood and time at Karimoku Research Center in Tokyo.
Chan credits her parents for introducing her to design and making from a young age, with her father's love for DIY projects and her mother's crafty nature shaping her approach to creativity. Their first major collaboration came during a design residency in Detroit, where they met a retired metalworker who taught them about hand-crafting metal and alloys.
This experience led to the creation of the Smoke Cloud Chandelier and Reflecting Flame wall candleholder, which exemplify the duo's commitment to handcrafted, material-driven design.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
