chair seat | GIZMODO.cz

While there are child seats in a lot of restaurants, not all of them are suited for kids that may have some developmental or physical issues. Parents may have to bring special seating for their child but not all of them are practical or portable so it can be a pain. Fortunately, there are countries like Japan that actually subsidize custom-made supportive chairs for children who need extra support to sit comfortably. So we see product developers in the country come up with better solutions for parents and their children.

Designer: Ikou

The Ikou Portable Chair is an improvement on the supportive chairs that have been around in Japan since the 80s. Previously, these chairs were meant for home use but this one is something that parents can carry around for use in places that may not have adequate seating for their children. It is created for toddlers and young children to help them have a more stable sitting position and it can also be attached to an adult chair so they can do activities like watch sports, camping, picnicking, and even just simply sitting with family and friends.

It is also pretty practical as you can carry it around like a regular bag when it’s folded into its case. When you need to use, you just open and unpack and secure the seat and backrest using the two belts that are attached to it. It also has an adjustable height and backrest and has a tilt mechanism that can be adjusted up to 20 degrees. The seat is designed to raise and stabilize the pelvis so as to help with their posture as well. The backrest meanwhile supports the shoulder blade to help control their upper limbs.

The Ikou Portable Chair is compatible for children as young as 7 months old and up to 3 years old. The great thing is that the backrest and headrest can be adjusted as the child grows so there’s no need to buy a new one as they grow older. This is available exclusively in Japan though so you’ll have to ask someone to buy it for you there if you’re not from the country.

The post Portable special seat helps kids with physical issues seat comfortably first appeared on Yanko Design.

Here is some food for thought – what if our leftovers could be turned to functional furniture that looked food? I mean good, that looked good! Phillipe Starck is a French designer which means he eats really good food and has managed to turn the leftovers into some really good chairs called the Broom for Emeco. Global food waste (aka leftovers) is twice as high as predicted reports CNN but leftovers don’t necessarily mean just food – it is any waste that ends up in the trash and the solution to waste management lies in creative, sustainable design. The Broom is a fine example of just that! Recycled, recyclable and designed to last – this is where rubbish becomes responsible.

The relationship between Phillipe Starck and Emeco is what turned the company from just a US Navy supplier to a coveted furniture design brand. “Working with Emeco has allowed me to use recycled material and transform it into something that never needs to be discarded – a tireless and unbreakable chair to use and enjoy for a lifetime,” says Starck who believes every creator has a duty to the society. Emeco uses recycled aluminum, recycled PET, reclaimed wood polypropylene, eco-concrete, and cork. In fact, the Broom chair is made of 90% reclaimed waste polypropylene and wood fiber that would normally be swept into the trash – hence the name!

Broom is the ingenious result of a design collaboration that both avoids and eliminates waste. It is made from a compound of industrial waste from lumber factories and industrial plastic plants – 75% waste polypropylene and 15% reclaimed wood that usually ends up in the trash. It checks all the boxes for sustainable furniture with its three-fold environmental impact – less energy, less waste, and less carbon. “With the Broom chair, it is about less and more. We chose less – less “style”, less “design”, less material, less waste, less energy. And so, the Broom chair became so much more” says Starck when talking about the design process to make a chair that does more than being a surface to sit on.

The Broom comes in 6 colors, can be stacked easily, perfect for outdoor use and very low maintenance (honestly, just clean with soapy water and wipe with a soft cloth). The wood particles create a speckled texture that gives the surface a warmer, more natural touch, each chair will have its own unique textured pattern. Wood is good, polypropylene is not so good, but the combination made from the two gives us a material that lasts like synthetic but has the spirit of nature. This is sourced from woodshops and plastic producing worksites, it is then cleaned, compressed and transformed into a wood composite that works for the environment instead of harming it.

“Imagine”, says Philippe Starck, “a guy who takes a humble broom and starts to clean the workshop and with this dust he makes new magic” and we bet JK Rowling will agree that brooms are truly magic.

Designer: Philippe Starck for Emeco.