An humble Norwegian from the small island of Fogn, outside Stavanger, is one of the world’s most exciting designers. Per Ivar Selvaag studied transport design at the Royal College of Art in London, and has been lead designer for BMW as well as chief designer at Peugot.
Selvaag got a kick-start when Land Rover by chance noticed his university project at the Coventry University. The company was so impressed that it sponsored his Master’s degree at The Royal College of Art in London (1997).
Later he relocated to San Francisco where he was managing partner at Native Design LLC.
Today Selvaag has signed an exclusive agreement with the Norwegian-based (Kristiansand) company Alu Design where he will design advanced marine pilot and operator chairs. Einar Ulrichsen, the CEO at Alu Design claims this as “a huge coup for the business”.
As a part of the San Francisco-based company Montaag he has agreed to work on the state-of-the-art moulded aluminium chars and not design chairs for any other manufacturer.
Alu Design supplies advanced pilot chairs and deck rails to clients including Kongsberg Maritime, Oceaneering, Rolls Royce and Aker Solutions. The firm’s MH OCH 300 operator chair attracted global attention this summer when it was featured prominently in the Transformers: Age of Extinction film sets.
Per Ivar Selvaag worked for General Motors Advanced Design in Birmingham (1999-2000) and Lincoln Design Organization in Detroit (2000-2006).
He designed the 4-series range for BMW, unveiled his startling Peugeoy HX1 hybrid concept car, where he was chief designer from November 2010. He founded Montaag after 15 years as a vehicle designer.
A Norwegian’s Passion for Design, written by Tor Kjolberg