The child between two kinds of chair
Opsvik’s account begins with an ordinary family problem. His eldest son had outgrown a highchair, but the available alternatives did not give him a natural place at the adults’ table. For a designer, that awkward gap became a brief.1
A small child-sized chair solves the height of the seat by lowering it. That can work beside a small table, but it does not bring a child to the shared dining surface. An adult chair keeps the table in reach only for a larger body.
Tripp Trapp approached the relationship differently. The table could stay where it was. The chair would adapt the positions of the person’s seat and feet.
A movable floor
Opsvik describes drawing people of different sizes with their elbows at tabletop level. The back could remain around that shared height while the seat and footrest changed in height and depth. His design dates to 1972.1
The footrest is central to the idea. It gives the feet a surface at the appropriate part of the chair rather than leaving the room’s floor as the only reference. Seen from the side, the two adjustable boards explain the furniture more clearly than a product photograph full of accessories.
Our drawing separates those boards to show their roles. It does not prescribe positions for a child: settings, accessories and suitability belong to the instructions for the exact chair and current Stokke system.
The structure tells the story
The grooved side members make adjustment part of Tripp Trapp’s appearance. A conventional upholstered chair often hides its structure. Here, the repeated positions remain visible, so the object looks capable of change even when nobody is moving its boards.
The space between the seat and foot platform is particularly revealing. It represents a relationship between two parts of a person’s body. The overall outline can remain familiar while that relationship changes.
Opsvik’s own works record links the 1972 design to Stokke, whose present range continues to offer the chair in several configurations.23
A chair with a family history
A used Tripp Trapp may have moved between siblings or households. That continuity fits the design’s original concern with growth, although an individual chair’s condition and accessories need their own assessment.
Its appeal as a history subject is immediate. This is a recognisable domestic object whose unusual outline came from watching a person struggle with an everyday arrangement. The memorable feature is the lower board: a small floor brought upwards so the family table did not have to become smaller.