What do CERN, chocolate and 1.618 Paris have in common this autumn? Obviously, all are involved in these three Nordic design fairs. If you’re not sure what CERN and 1.618 Paris are, well read on… This autumn, we invite you to forget IKEA, wrap yourself up warm and head to these three design events in northwestern Europe: Formland, Northmodern and the NordDesign conference.

northmodern, August 18-20

Denmark has a new furniture and lifestyle trade show, taking place at the same time as Formland (see bottom) in Copenhagen’s Bella Center. Called northmodern (literally spelled all lowercase but we’ll abandon that odd syntax henceforth), it was launched in January 2015 and is reportedly inspired by the Danish Modern movement. The fair invites international businesses, professionals and design enthusiasts to celebrate “holistic, sustainable contemporary living” with a focus on Scandinavian and Nordic design.

For the fourth edition of the fair, hotly-anticipated shows include Englebrechts with their new Plateau and Petit Plateau furniture collection designed by Erik Magnusson. The Scandinavian lighting brand Pholc will exhibit for the first time, and luxury specialists 1.618 Paris (sustainable luxury is this agency’s thing) will curate the 450 m² Crystal Hall space, the fourth time the company has appeared at the show. For subsequent shows, northmodern will be collaborating with Dezeen, the most-visited architecture and design website in the world.

NordDesign 2016, August 10-12

This year, the biannual conference on Design and Development is being hosted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in the city of Trondheim. The conference aims to evaluate the Nordic approach to design, as well as “topical issues on design, development, and innovation that strengthens both our theoretical understanding, and the connection between theory and practice.”

The opening keynote speech will be given by the appropriately-named Markus Nordberg from CERN, the European organization for nuclear research in Geneva (which you may recall being responsible for the Large Hadron Collider). Honestly, we’re not making either Nordberg’s name or CERN’s participation up. Other anticipated presentations include those from Saeema Ahmed-Kristensen (Imperial College London) on “What If a Computer Could Design?” and Andy Dong (University of Sydney) on “Design as a Theory of the Firm and Strategy.” Yes, Dong is apparently his real name and we’re not doing this for a laugh.

Formland, August 18 – 21

The biannual interior and design trade fair has grown over the past 32 years (shame on you if you’re just hearing about it) to become a hub for “the newest, the best, the strangest and most inspiring” Scandinavian designs of the present and future. The fair, which takes place in Herning, Denmark, is divided into 11 different “communities”, from Light to Interior-atelier, Bloom and the Next Stage for creative entrepreneurs.

Within the fair itself, a number of different events will be taking place, such as the Food & Chocolate Festival featuring free talks and tastings (maybe edible furniture and fixtures?), and the FOCUS trend zone, where experts invite visitors to explore five different zones of colors, textures and materials.