The history of balans®

2010

Development of Active Stand products started.

1996

Balans Management A/S was established in 1996 to be a company to develop a new generation of balans® chairs to the benefits for the licensed manufacturers of balans®.Design mark on new generation balans chairs is: Design Studio balans

1990

After 10 years of production, more than one million orginal balans chairs ben sold

1986

The balans® group, (Hans Christian Mengshoel, Oddvin Rykken, Peter Opsvik and Svein Gusrud) received the Jacob List Price.

1984

Balans A/S received the SAS Export Pioneer Price. Result of the alliance between the licensed furniture manufactures and the balans® group (120.000 balans® chairs exported).

1983

1979

“balans® alternative sitting”, exhibited the first balans® prototypes manufactured by STI and Rykken + co, at the «Scandinavian Furniture Fair» in Copenhagen. Different balans® prototypes were implemented by license agreements to additional three new furniture manufacturers in Norway (Stokke, Håg and Runni/Sandela).

Statement from A. C. Mandal Cief psysician

1978 

Rykken + co was appointed in collaboration with Staten’s Teknologiske Institutt (STI) of Norway. To participate in product development and physical tests on balanced sitting effects to the human anatomy. Initiator Hans Christian Mengshoel invited the three furniture designers Oddvin Rykken, Peter Opsvik and Svein Gusrud to design products based on the balans®sitting concept. Rykken + co was licensed as the first furniture manufacturer to enter a license agreement for production and distribution in the balans® collection.

See press cut here

1976

 When people have a tendency to improvise we are observing their need for change. How to be functional at low tables was one of many observations. School children, riding/tilting at the front of their seats, was the inspiration of developing the balans® chair for normal table height. The balans® furniture is founded on the idea of giving support and comfort to the natural and balanced sitting positions. Prototypes were made for functional testing.

 

Patents

balans® chairs are registered with several utility patents and design patents.

Purchased
The Applied Arts Museums in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim
Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Biennale de Venezia, Venedig
Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo