Tag Archives: swivel chair

This office chair concept looks futuristic but with ergonomics from the past

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There is no shortage of ideas on how chairs can and should be, depending on where they are used. Regardless of shape, size, and style, however, a few standard elements are expected in every design. The chair has to be stable, of course, and it has to be comfortable to sit on for hours on end. The latter is particularly critical for office chairs which should add comfort and support to let people perform potentially tiresome tasks for long periods of time. Office chairs, particularly the swivel type ones, are notorious for being a pain in the back and a pain in the eyes. Unsurprisingly, this also presents the biggest opportunity for improvement, and a particular concept tries to modernize the casual chair design with one that goes with the flow of contours and lines.

Designer: Changgon Lee

Swivel chairs, probably because of their use in the office or in more casual places, seem to be designed more for mass production than any other consideration. Many aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, and most simply meet the function of a piece of furniture you can sit on and not much else. When you’re working all day on your desk, the last thing you need is a chair that makes the work even more tiresome, not to mention actually dangerous to your health.

The FLO concept tries to change the equation by designing the casual swivel chair as a more visually whole shape. Of course, the chair is actually made of different parts that you do have to assemble, but once connected, it would seem as if the chair came out of the factory as a single piece, except for the base and swivel cylinder, of course.

This design allows the eyes to smoothly follow the contour of the chair like flowing water, hence the name. Perhaps almost as a side effect, the overall design of the chair looks futuristic and something from a utopian office. The sleek form and twisting structures of the armrests and the bent shape of the backrest give it an almost otherworldly appearance, definitely not something that would fit in today’s office settings.

But while the FLO chair design concept is visually striking, it might come at the price of space efficiency and, more importantly, ergonomics. The structure of the chair is actually designed to provide more stability and durability, especially when leaning back, but the shape of the backrest itself might not be that comfortable after long hours of use.

The flow-centric design of the chair supposedly also has advantages in being able to support heavier loads without actually making the structure heavier in turn. This can hopefully be extended to using a variety of sustainable materials inside of typical plastics. The designer, for example, mentioned the use of resin and upholstery, but the door remains open for alternative materials as well. Despite the more unified shape, the unconventional shape of the chair’s parts will make packaging also unconventional, potentially taking up more room compared to flat-packed swivel chairs.

The post This office chair concept looks futuristic but with ergonomics from the past first appeared on Yanko Design.

This playful bar stool uses rock climbing hand grips as foot rests to meet your feet wherever they fall!

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12 Steps is a cushioned chair design that features a system of footrests in the style of hand and foot grips on a climbing rock wall.

It’s no secret that stools are usually more functional than they are comfortable. With a hard seat rest, stools aren’t built for long sitting periods, and depending on your height, your feet are either swinging midair or only just touching the floor below.

Built as a whimsical alternative to the traditional stool, 12 Steps is a new cushioned stool from HaYoung Yoo that comes with built-in footrests designed like rock wall climbing steps so that people of varying heights will have a place where they can prop their feet.

HaYoung Yoo’s 12 Steps stool is built on a six-sided wooden pillar that’s punctuated with climbing holds more commonly found on rock walls. The climbing holds that fill up the stool’s wooden pillar are placed so that users can use them as footrests.

The stools also feature a rotating seat designed similarly to traditional bar stools so that the positioning of the footrests can meet users where their legs fall. The footrests can also function as hand grips for when you might want to move 12 Steps around the room. Ideal for a kid’s classroom or whimsical art studio, 12 Steps was built for comfort, functionality, and playfulness.

Designing innovative chair designs is a tough ask–they’ve been around for as long as any of us can remember. Innovation in new chairs might come through with their multifunctionality, adaptability, or simple comfort. 12 Steps reaches for all three, with an adaptable footrest system, rotating seat rest, and cushioned top.

Designer: HaYoung Yoo

This office chair’s 5° side to side tilt is designed to support your posture and body’s natural movement!

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Ever since I was a kid, I’ve leaned back in almost every chair I sit in. If I have the room, I’ll tilt back until I hit that sweet spot and let the chair teeter back and forth. Some of us have fidget spinners and some of us lean our chairs all the way back. Designed specifically for those of us who share that same tendency, Seoul-based design firm 250 Design built the 5° Chair, an office chair that can rotate 360°, lean back and forward, and tilt from side to side.

Primarily designed for workers who spend most of their days sitting down in the office or at home, the 5° Chair features cushioning that forms to your body and posture to ensure comfortable sitting throughout the day. The chair’s seat plate cozies up to and hugs your hips for support from the bottom, with added cushion for comfort. Similarly, the backrest plate forms to the shape of your back to bolster your posture and encourage an upright spine. The 5° Chair’s legs are reinforced in the core with angled wave springs that can tilt in any direction, while the chair’s spindle can lean from side to side, 5 degrees from its center point. The rotatability of the 5° Chair allows it to adjust to your body’s natural movement, offering support from every angle.

Designed for people who work in small spaces, the 5° Chair does not feature wheels, compensating for the lack of wheels with a swivel and spindle that can be rotated and tilted in every direction. Embedded wave springs provide the chair with stationary mobility that offers support for your body’s natural ways of readjusting and moving throughout the workday.

Designer: 250 Design

The 5° Chair rotates in every direction and tilts from side to side, 5 degrees from the spindle’s center.

Without wheels, the 5° Chair makes up for that lack with plenty of integrated movement.

Cushioned seat plates hug your hips to support your base when sitting.

The 5° Chair’s height can also be adjusted with a conventional lever.

The backrest’s plate hugs your upper back for spine support.

With a gentle slope, the 5° Chair’s seat plate meets your body’s natural way of sitting.

Embedded alternating wave springs allow the chair to be rotated and tilted in any direction, predicting your body’s movement.

“It is the same as a normal chair when you sit and use it normally, but if you twist your back or change your posture, it will tilt at various angles according to that direction.”

Textured, tight-knit cushions give the chair a refined, minimal look.

“Both sides of the seat plate are made in a shape that holds the hips so that the movement can receive power naturally, so you can stably tilt it with force.”

“This chair is mainly for users who use the chair in a small space, and it is a chair that can receive various body movements when sitting than the mobility of the chair.”