The ‘Tripp Trapp’ is an adjustable wooden high chair designed by Peter Opsvik in 1972, manufactured 1979 by Stokke AS.
The chair is made of red-stained beech wood. The two vertical side pieces, each in the shape of an inverted 7, have grooved inner surfaces to accommodate various horizontal elements, such as a baby rail, a seat, a footrest and stretcher rods. As the child grows, the baby rail can be removed and the depth and height of the seat and footrest changed to accommodate various sizes simply by sliding the seat and footrest into position. For a full-sized person, the lower stretcher rod and original seat are also removed, and the footrest then becomes the seat. The basic design has remained unchanged since 1972.
Opsvik’s chair designs are based on his aim of creating rational, ergonomic products that can accommodate different body types and sizes. The manufacturer’s slogan for the Tripp Trapp is: ‘the chair that grows with your child’. The high chair is designed so that a child can use it at various ages.
This chair was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring performance, and more specifically flexible designed objects which can be reconfigured for a variety of different needs.