Peter Opsvik

Norway

Person

Designer

Born 25 March 1939 Stranda, Norway Died 30 September 2024 Oslo, Norway Peter Opsvik was a Norwegian designer specialising in ergonomic seating. He studied in Bergen from 1959 to 1963 and in Oslo in 1963/64, then worked as an industrial designer at Tandberg from 1965 to 1970. From 1967 he collaborated with the furniture manufacturer Stokke. In 1970 he studied ergonomics in Essen and established his own studio in Oslo. His most important designs include the children’s chairs Minimax from 1970 and Tripp Trapp from 1972 as well as the office chair Calypso from 1975 for Håg. Based on the Balans concept, he developed Variable balans and the G-chair in 1979. This was followed by the office chair Capisco from 1984 and a series of garden chairs from 1985 that became known as seating sculptures. Further works include the children’s chair Sitti from 1993. From 1995 to 2003 he received several awards from the Norwegian Design Council. In 1999 his solo exhibition "Movement: Peter Opsvik" was shown in Ghent. In 2000 he co-founded Design Without Borders.