Peter Karpf is a danish architect born 1940 in Copenhagen. He was educated at Fritz Hansen and the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts in the 50s and 60s and has cooperated with Piet Hein, Grete Jalk, Arne Jacobsen  & Erik Herløw. Karpf worked with the idea of the Voxia collection for over thirty years before it was finally realized.

Education
1957 Fritz Hansens Eft. – Cabinetmaker training
1961 School of Arts and Crafts, Copenhagen – Design training
Cooperation with, amongst others, Grete Jalk & Arne Jacobsen & Piet Hein.

Exhibitions
1964 Copenhagen Cabinetmaker’s guild, debut – Rocket chair
1967 Charlottenborg, debut – Silver space
1967 Experimental exhibition, Copenhagen – Canvas chair
1970 Gothenburgh exhibition – Spectaculume lamp series

Awards
2008 Arkitektpriset (Träpriset) Denmark
2002 Bruno Mathsson prize
2001 IF Design Award – OTO
2001 Red Dot, Best Selection – NXT
2000 IF Ecology Design Award – ECO
2000 IF Design Award – ECO
1993 Forsnäs award – NXT
1968 Japanese prize – Yamagiwa globe lamp
1967 The National Endowment for the Arts, prize – Plastic building material
1965 1st prize in Italian competition – Cassina chair
1964 1st prize in a Danish competition – pine lamp

Bruno Mathsson Prize 2002, jury’s comment:
”Peter Karpf was given the award for the consistent accomplishment of VOXIA, his
collection of moulded chairs in laminated beech, which holds a distinctive personal
character. Peter Karpf demands solutions that work industrially in order to make his
furniture accessible for a wider market. His strong sense of form in combination with a deep
understanding of materials and manufacturing techniques make him one of the greatest
contemporary Nordic designers.”

Represented
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Museum für Angewante Kunst, München, Köln, Victoria
& Albert Museum, London, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal, Design Museum, London,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stedeljik Museum, Amsterdam, Focke-Museum, Bremen.

VOXIA: clarity, coherence and simplicity.
Designed by Peter Karpf, this line of moulded beech plywood chairs is the result of more
than 30 years of exploration of the optimum simplicity in a chair, unifying space with the
article of furniture. VOXIA is furniture that is present without being irksome. The beech is
sourced from a sustainably managed forest close to the production plant. Because of the
planned veneer pattern, the cut-away wood waste is minimal. The back, seat and legs are
produced and combined in one continuous process. Thin, three dimensional, curved
surfaces replace the traditionally large consumption of materials and energy in production.