Up to the Task
Whether wrought from molded aluminum or the latest techno-mesh, few seats work harder than the sturdy desk chair. We worked a few over.
What bit of office furniture better stands in for the oak-solid authority of work getting done than the desk? “From the desk of…” reads the stationery of some tony executive; a desk reference book has all the information you could possibly use. Beatles favorite Harry Nilsson even penned a paean to his humble work space, the tune “Good Old Desk.”
Yet what of its undersung cubicle mate, the office chair? If a desk suggests work, then the office chair suggests its uncompanionable companion: working. And when compared with lazy loungers, chummy chaises, and sophisticated sides that sit idly by in overstuffed recline, desk chairs have trended toward a technical web of mesh seat plates, full-tilt articulation, and aesthetically awkward maneuverability.
The establishment of a design ethos largely synonymous with technology has come with significant benefits. Increased adjustability, lightness of materials, and unblinking attention to user experience all contribute to a seating subset whose trajectory has more closely followed performance sneakers than the vagaries of fashion.
In the more than 15 years since its debut, Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf’s Aeron chair has done more for upper-middle management’s upper-middle backs than Blue Cross and Blue Shield combined. Chadwick, the don himself, advises, “Work styles have changed a lot. They’re far more flexible than they used to be, and understanding how you work before you pick out a chair is very important.”
Joan Kuenzi, an ergonomist who owns Practical Ergonomics, LLC, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, concurs. She encourages the office-bound to “think of your chair as part of your whole work system. If you can adjust the height of your table, or move your cabinets around, that will affect what you need your chair to do. If the chair is the only thing the worker can control, full adjustability is critical.”
Rather than rest on our design laurels, we’ve sat our way through the office chair canon from the high-tech—Itoki Design’s wheeled SP chair, which sat the high-rolling backsides at the 2008 G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit—to the classic Herman Miller’s Eames Aluminum Group, to the avant-garde in Konstantin Grcic’s 360˚ Chair, which looks as though it might have been designed for condors.
Once you’ve determined just what kind of work style you’ve got, and just how malleable your workstation is, remember Chadwick’s sage words when the time comes to make your selection: “Usability. Comfort. Ease of functionality. Ease of adjustability. That’s what you need.” And to truly get those, you’ll just have to give a sit.
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Diffrient World
- Designed by: Niels Diffrient
- Made by: Humanscale
- Price: $740
A fantasia of forgiving mesh, Niels Diffrient's eponymous chair is an update of the high tech office seat. Always wise to err on the side of caution.
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Cachet Chair
- Designed by: Peter Jon Pearce
- Made by: Steelcase
- Price: $419
Add a bit of prestige to the office with Peter Jon Pearce's beautifully balanced Cachet chair.
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360 Chair
- Designed by: Konstantin Grcic
- Made by: Magis
- Price: $840.00
At full-swivel and full-perch, the 360° Chair rewards no slumpers. Get to work!
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Generation Chair
- Designed by: Formway Design
- Made by: Knoll
- Price: $777-897
Generation offers a wide berth and plenty of support. We also dig the groovy color choices, especially lime green.
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Worknest Chair
- Designed by: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
- Made by: Vitra
- Price: $1710.00
The Worknest chair by les freres Bouroullecs does have an avian shape, one that hides its technical bells and whistles behind humble plumage.
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Spoon Chair
- Designed by: Antonio Citterio, Toan Nguyen
- Made by: Kartell
- Price: $675
Sure, you'd rather be spooning in bed, but Kartell's Spoon Chair offers the at-work support your partner, and flatware, can't.
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SP Chair
- Designed by: Yasuhiro Nakamura
- Made by: Itoki Design
- Price: $1699.00
Gussying up Japanese corporate boardrooms, the simple, clear lines of Itoki Design's SP chair should keep you toiling away. The only fear of deflation you need entertain is just before that 3:30 coffee break.
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Eames Aluminum Group Management Chair
- Designed by: Charles and Ray Eames
- Made by: Herman Miller
- Price: $1179.00-1749.00
Clearly the old standby, this reclining office chair looks, and functions, as well now as ever.
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Embody Chair
- Designed by: Bill Stumpf, Jeff Weber
- Made by: Herman Miller
- Price: $1199.00-1399.00
The tall back and vertebrae-like support of the Embody chair will be sure to keep you in your office and not the chiropractor's.
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I read this article in the magazine, and now online. It frustrates me that there is no substantive discussion of the individual chairs. This is a glorified catalog spread. I've enjoyed your pieces in the past that actually include commentary by magazine staff and some outside expert regarding each item in a group. This "article" smells like you didn't want to anger your advertisers. Or you didn't actually sit in any of these chairs. Either way, I expect more from you, Dwell.
This is not a Dwell Report. It is a thin description of the range of options in office supply catalogs. I second the previous post.
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