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Please Be Seated

The Simpsons’ C. Montgomery Burns once said, “Sitting—the great leveler. From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn’t enjoy a good sit?” As we discovered with television critic Tim Goodman, when it comes to sitting, the lounge chair is king.

lounge chairs expert goodman tim portrait

The lounge chair is the furniture equivalent to the sports car. If you’re having a midlife crisis (and happen to be in the market for furniture and not, say, a convertible roadster), do you go out and buy yourself a dresser? No, but you might buy a sexy lounge chair. The reasons for this, however, have more to do with the history of furniture than with male-pattern baldness or marital anxiety. Up until the Renaissance, the chair, much like a Lamborghini Countach, was not the seat of the people—commoners were stuck with chests, benches, and stools. Today the lounge chair is the modern living room’s throne—a status symbol and upholstered isolation chamber rolled into one.

In the 20th century the lineage of the chair became inextricably linked with that of design itself. From Thonet to Pillet, to chart the course of the chair’s evolution is also to follow technological developments (like bent plywood and injection molding) and the ever-changing notion of what makes design modern, even when it’s postmodern. Chairs hold such weight that individual pieces have been elevated to cultural icons—hundreds of magazine covers, movies, and television shows later, Aarnio’s Ball chair is as ’60s as Sgt. Pepper.

When it came time for Dwell to evaluate lounge chairs, it seemed natural that we should somehow tie in another innovation that’s grown up right alongside (or in front of) the chair—the television. Although we certainly enjoy a good book and love to sift through the Sunday paper, the reality for most Americans (and sometimes, sadly, ourselves) is that time spent at home equals time watching TV. For Tim Goodman, the television critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, that’s not such a bad thing. “I watch about 30 hours a week,” he told us enthusiastically. “I have three televisions and three TiVos.” We recently spent an afternoon with Goodman talking about the ups and downs of a life centered on the small screen, and testing five lounge chairs to see how they would hold up to the new fall season.
 

  • womb saarinen knoll raw

    Womb Chair

    • Designed by: Eero Saarinen
    • Made by: Knoll
    • Price: $2,380
    This chair was initially released in 1948 with the catchy title No. 70 and later became known as the Womb chair thanks to its inviting embrace. A padded and upholstered fiberglass shell sits on a polished chrome steel frame. Covering options vary.
  • jj citterio b b italia square

    J.J.

    • Designed by: Antonio Citterio
    • Made by: B&B Italia
    • Price: $4,500
    The undersized J.J. was created to complement Citterio’s oversize Arne sofas. Steel rods support a stained oak frame, between which a series of crisscrossed seatbelt-like bands make up the seat, which is covered in a leather cushion.
  • facett bouroullec ligne roset square

    Facett

    • Designed by: The Bouroullec Brothers
    • Made by: Ligne Roset
    • Price: $2,685
    The brothers Bouroullec conceived the angular Facett range much like a piece of origami—its unique stitched cover unfolding into a single sheet. It’s available in a range of fabrics, and the stitching can also be specified.
  • take a line for a walk halberi moroso square

    Take A Line for a Walk

    • Designed by: Alfredo Häberli
    • Made by: Moroso
    • Price: $3,500
    The unusual name for Häberli’s chair comes from artist Paul Klee’s description of drawing. The chair’s steel frame is covered with injected polyurethane foam. Upholstering options vary. Base options include fixed, swivel, or with a footrest.
  • ola urquiola depadova square

    Ola

    • Designed by: Patricia Urquiola
    • Made by: DePadova
    With its gentle curves, Ola (or “wave”) earns its name ably. The chair is made from rigid polyurethane upholstered with foam and a fixed cover of either stretched Lycra or leather.
Television critic Tim Goodman sits through a lot of bad TV so that we don't have to. When it's time to tune in, he helps us select the best chair for the job.

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