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Stokke
and the art of sitting
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A
warm soul in a cold country
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To
mark the visit of King Harald V of Norway,
Milan will host ‘The importance of design
in international marketing’. The seminar,
which is to be held on October 26th,
will give Italian and Norwegian designers the chance
to reflect on their work and how their image influences
marketing strategies. For many it will be the opportunity
for two very different schools of design to come
together.
 We
were sitting on it
If Norwegian design is thought of as functional
and Italian design as creative then you'd be for
thinking that put together the two balance and complement
each other. We racked our brains for days trying
to come up with of an example of the perfect combination
of these two design tendencies until we realised
that we were sitting on it all along.
 Growing
with you
One of Norway's greatest design exports is undoubtedly
the Stokke
range of chairs. The name Stokke is synonymous with
comfort and flexibility as well as distinctive quality
and design. The products are all made with natural
materials and are multifunctional allowing them
to 'grow' as your children grow or 'change' with
your changing needs.
Move your body
Whenever we speak about natural or healthy
options for our homes and offices, Stokke's range
of chairs come immediately to mind. They are recommended
by the Associazione
Italiana Terapisti della Riabilitazione
(Association of Italian Rehabilitation Therapists)
and are a must in all body-conscious workspaces
throughout the world.
"Our bodies are not meant to be sitting
still all the time"- says Peter
Opsvik, designer of Stokke's acclaimed
Tripp Trapp range and one of Norway's most
famous design architects. "Our body craves
movement, movement and variation. Even while asleep
we continuously shift position. (...) My most important
contribution has been to create products where it
is possible to shift among a large variety of positions
while using the same chair (...)The human body is
soft, while its surroundings are hard. A proper
chair should therefore function as an intermediary
between the soft human body and its hard, architectural
surroundings."
 A
healthy body lives in a healthy world and
Stokke, and its designers, are also renowned for
their commitment to the environment. Peter Opsvik
has just finished work on Butterfly,
a prototype car that runs on solar energy. For Opsvik
the project reflects both his endless creativity
and his childlike enthusiasm. Peter Opsvik and his
work are proof that it is possible to
design with a warm soul in a cold country.
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ELENA
GUARNERI |
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October
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
