You’ve likely encountered a Tableau space: the vibrant use of color, the luxurious materials, and, of course, the flowers. Founded in 2018 by creative director Julius Værnes Iversen, the Copenhagen-based multidisciplinary studio has quickly become the go-to for immersive scenography and installations among fashion and design clients across Scandinavia and beyond.

Værnes Iversen takes a minimalist approach, focusing on just two or three colors and a few materials to create entire worlds that instantly captivate the viewer, crafting an immersive fantasy. “It’s the same principle whether it’s a small-scale photoshoot or a large-scale interior project,” he explains. “A minimalist approach with a striking color can make a space, a flower arrangement, or an object more interesting. We aim to create something significant without overwhelming the senses.”

For Værnes Iversen, it all began with flowers. “My father was a florist, so it all traces back to that,” he says. He worked in his father’s flower shop from a young age, even keeping his job part-time while studying law (which he eventually dropped, calling it “too boring”). It was during this time that he began to see floristry as a design element rather than just a decorative feature. “I wanted to make flowers a part of the design industry, not just something you put on a table,” he adds.

To Værnes Iversen, flowers are as much a building block material as wood or metal. This approach is evident in his large-scale floral designs, which combine architectural thought and construction. His first major commission was for Dansk magazine, where he created an otherworldly floral installation for the cover. His signature bloom, however, isn’t a flower at all but a plant: asparagus. “When you see those brightly colored installations we’ve made, they’re often made from asparagus that’s been preserved. It’s treated with the same machine that colors a car,” he explains. Værnes Iversen contrasts these vibrant colors with natural green foliage, evoking the nature for which Scandinavia is famous.

Today, Tableau is much more than flowers. The studio occupies a second-floor gallery space in central Copenhagen, where it hosts exhibitions and collaborates with designers and artists to showcase both functional and decorative objects. Tableau also designs spaces, including permanent commissions like the pistachio-hued Connie-Connie café at Copenhagen Contemporary, as well as temporary collaborations, such as a minimalist black-and-white tablescape for a private dinner hosted by Vogue Scandinavia and Nina Ricci. Værnes Iversen met his current collaborators at a rave in Copenhagen, and just four months later, they were working with major magazines, including Vogue Paris and Vogue Ukraine, as well as design houses. Most recently, Tableau collaborated with Hermès to create a striking display for their shop-in-shop at NK in Stockholm.

Tableau’s work blends the natural with the industrial, merging the flowers through which Værnes Iversen first made his mark with forward-thinking design. While the scope of Tableau’s projects has expanded, the ethos remains unchanged. “We want to create an experience for the visitor,” says Værnes Iversen. “It’s about evoking a feeling.”

Visit Tableau at their flower shop and concept store at Store Strandstræde 20 or their gallery at Vimmelskaftet 41a, 2nd floor.