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RESOURCE PACK
Chairs
Ch
airs
This Chairs resource pack aims to give students and teachers background informationon the history and design of a basic product. It also provides suggestions for design-relatedactivities. The pack is suitable for teachingstudents at Key Stage 1 and above. It is part of a series comprising packs on the following subjects:
Innovation Verner PantonChairsMemphis
Packs are supplied in photocopiable loose-leaf format and are designed to beinterchangeable, so that common elements of each may be combined. In this way it ispossible to assemble packs on:
DesigningInnovationManufacturing & materialsErgonomicsHandling collection– creating your own Design MuseumActivities
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The Design Museum is the world’s leadingmuseum of 20th and 21st century design,and the UK’s largest provider of designeducation resources. Its network of contactsin the corporate sector and the design worldmake it a bridge between the designcommunity, industry and education.
To order additional packs or for furtherinformation about the Design MuseumEducation Programme, please contact:
Education DepartmentDesign Museum28 Shad ThamesLondon SE1 2YD
T 020 7403 6933 F 020 7378 6540E [email protected]
Designed by PencilCover: DKR Chair by Charles and Ray Eames, 1951
© Design Museum 2001
The chair is one of the most familiar and widelyused mass-produced items in the word. Certainly
everyone in the West has experience of using thisbasic object. Chair design is something to which allstudents can relate, whatever their previous experience.
1908
1928
1918
1933
1948
1954
1968
1978
1981
1991
Chairs
T for teachers’ notesAbout this pack
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Aims and contents
This Design Museum ResourcePack is for teachers and studentsat Key Stage 1 and above. It provides background informationon the modern history of chairs andintroduces important aspects oftheir design including ergonomics,innovation and materials andmanufacturing. It aims to giveteachers and students ideas fordeveloping their own projectsbased on chair design.
The study of chairs gives anexcellent opportunity for theexamination of many other areas of design, including:
• Structures and forces• Function• Mechanisms • Design history• Culture
Suggestions for assembling ahandling collection for use in theclassroom complete the pack.
The different sheets directly relateto each other and the informationand ideas on them sometimesoverlap. Sections from other packs can also be combined with the contents of this pack to form a comprehensiveresource.
A short history of chairs
The positions in which people have sat have varied from period to period, culture to culture andcontinent to continent. In someplaces sitting cross-legged hasbeen the most common posture, inothers kneeling has been the norm,and in yet others squatting isconsidered natural and comfortable.
With such a variety of sittingpositions to choose from, why havepeople in the Western world chosenour traditional sitting posture as thepattern for virtually all chair design?The answer is simple – throughoutthe ages, society in general hasimitated the higher social classes,and the modern chair evolved fromthe thrones used by royalty.
Following the Industrial Revolution,more and more work was carriedout whilst sitting, and by thetwentieth century, homes in the West were filled with chairs.
No.670 (Sitzamaschine)Designer: Josef HoffmanMaterials: Bent beechwood,turned wood, plywood, brass
Red/Blue Chair Designer: Gerrit ThomasRietveldMaterials: Varnished wood
Chaise Longue à Reglage Designers: Le Corbusier, PierreJeanneret, Charlotte PerriandMaterials: Chrome-plated andvarnished steel, fabric, steelsprings, rubber
Plywood Armchair Designer: Gerald SummersMaterials: Bent plywood
DAX (Dining Armchair with X-Base) Designers: Charles and Ray EamesMaterials: Fibreglass, roundsteel bars, rubber
Butterfly Designer: Sori YanagiMaterials: Bent plywood, brass
Sacco Designers: Piero Gatti, CesarePaolini, Franco TeodoroMaterials: Cover made of vinyl,polystyrene filling
Poltrana di Proust Designer: Alessandro MendiniMaterials: Painted wood,painted upholstery
Rover Designer: Ron AradMaterials: Tubular-steel frame,salvaged Rover car seat
Louis 20 Designer: Philippe StarckMaterials: Blown polypropylene,polished aluminium
Timeline: A CENTURY OFCHAIR DESIGN
No.670 Sitzamaschine byJosef Hoffman, 1908
To order additional packs or for more infomation about the Design Museum Education Programme, please contact: Education Department, Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD.
www.designmuseum.org Tel 020 7403 6933. Fax 020 7378 6540. Email [email protected]
Fibreglass – a plastic reinforced by glass fibres.
Mass production – continuous production
which may run into millions of items.
The high initial cost of complicated tools
and moulds is offset by the number of
identical products which can be made.
Organic – relating to animals and plants;
influenced by their actions or forms.
Plywood – a strong board consisting of two
or more thin layers of wood glued and pressed
together, with the direction of the grain alternating.
Polypropylene – one of a group of
thermoplastics used to make moulded
objects and fibres.
Posture – the position of the body or limbs.
Welded – hammered or fused (heated but not
melted) into one piece.
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Chairs
➜ There is no known inventor of the chair.
➜ Originally chairs were only used assymbols of authority.
➜ Some of the first known chairs were usedfor ceremonial occasions by the Egyptianpharaohs and their queens around 2650 BC.
➜ In Britain, medieval lords and ladies saton raised chairs at the head of the table.
➜ The term ‘chairman’ derives from thestatus given to those who sat in the chair.
➜ The user changes position on averageevery 10–15 minutes.
➜ Many classic chair designs have beencreated by architects.
Data FILE: Chair facts
Structures
The primary function of a chair is to hold up and support the humanbody when sitting.
Designers must make sure thatchairs are not only comfortable tosit on but that they can support thedifferent weights of all their usersand that they stand up to wear andtear. When it sits down the humanbody exerts a force that moves thechair. The chair will not buckle orbreak under this force if itsconstruction has been carefullyplanned, even if someone tips back on it.
This chair was cut from a singlepiece of plywood and formedinto a fluid organic shape.Unfortunately the back legscould not withstand constantstress and snapped easily.
A great chair is like a face …,you meet thousands but
few are memorable Ross Lovegrove, designer
“”
The legs of this steel-wirechair are called ‘Eiffel’ andare based on the structureof the famous French tower.
DKR Chair by Charles &Ray Eames,1951
Designers constantly exploredifferent ways of approaching theconstruction of chairs and some aremore successful than others. Thesuitability or otherwise of differentmaterials can have a drastic effecton the success of a chair design.Shown here are examples of chairsthat have been designed withoutthe traditional ‘leg at each corner’.
Plywood Chair by Gerald Summers, 1933–4
© Design Museum 2001
See also manufacturingand materials for examplesof cantilevered chairs
M
The scissor-shape of the legs is based on thetype of folding chair used inAncient Egypt, Greece andRome. The designer triedvarious ways of joining thecross-pieces of the frameand finally used a solidlywelded joint to take theuser’s weight.
Barcelona Chair byLudwig Mies van der Rohe, 1929
Links …Websites:
Classic furniture retailers/manufacturers:
www.coexistence.com
www.twentytwentyone.com
www.vitra.com
Design history:
www.designmuseum.org(Enter Flash version/click on Design at the Design Museum)
Books:
Fiona & Keith Baker, Twentieth-Century Furniture, Carlton Books, 2000.
Charlotte & Peter Fiell, 1000 chairs, Taschen, 1997.
Charlotte & Peter Fiell, Icons - Chairs, Taschen, 2001.
Cara Greenberg, Mid-Century Modern – Furniture of the1950s, Thames & Hudson, 1995.
Penny Sparke, A Century of Design – Design Pioneers ofthe 20th Century, Mitchell Beazley, 1998.
Alexander von Vegesack, Mathias Schwartz-Claus andPeter Dunas, 100 Masterpieces from the collection of theVitra Design Museum, Vitra Design Museum, 1996.
The need to be functional is not the only issueaffecting chair design. Here we examine some
other topics for creative thinking.
Case study: Sedia MisuraThis chair by Totem Italia demonstrates theircommitment to using natural, economical materials.
They use birch/beech plywoodand solid wood; each structuremakes best use of the flexibilityand strength of the material toproduce extremely lightweight yet solid, stable furniture. Cleverconstruction means there is noneed to use glues: the plywoodpieces are precision-cut by laserto ensure a proper fit and heldtogether in constant tension. The seat of the Sedia Misura isheld in place by a rubber bandand the surfaces can be colouredor finished with natural oil.
for ergonomics has details of otherdesigns by Peter OpsvikE
Chairs
D for designing 1Environmental design
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Sustainability
Designers can deal with concernsfor the environment in severalways. Making sure that a producthas durability is important from anecological perspective. PeterOpsvik designed the Tripp TrappChair with this in mind: ‘If materialsare handled with loving care duringthe development and processingstages, the chances of a productbeing taken care of and lasting fora long time are much greater.’
The choice of materials is anotherimportant aspect of sustainability.
Tripp Trapp chair by Peter Opsvik. The chair isdesigned to grow with the child.
Manufacturers Totem Italia arecommitted to sustainable design in a much broader context thanrecyclable materials. ‘We choose touse eco-friendly materials becauseof the low impact they have on theenvironment as they are retrievedand processed. This is also part of our commitment to upholdingethical production processes forhuman and natural resources, aswell as safe-guarding the health of the artisans who make ourproducts and the customers who use them.’
Totem’s furniture range is sold in kits, which makes it easy to transport and store. Each kitincludes the chair parts, anyaccessories, assemblyinstructions and oil for finishing.No metal or adhesive material isused in the construction of any of the products and no tools arerequired to assemble any of the items.
Case study: Louis20This armchair by Philippe Starck can be used both insideand outside for domestic or public seating and is recyclable.
The springy back section and thecurvy hollow front legs aremanufactured from one piece ofblown polypropylene the arm restsand back legs from over 99% purealuminium. It is held together with aminimum number of screws and canbe disassembled very quickly byunscrewing the back legs from thebody, thus making it easy to recyclethe two materials separately.
The aluminium frame is joined tothe body by a plate that enables thechair to be tilted on the back legswithout causing damage.
Chairs
Links …Websites:
Sustainability:www.biothinking.comwww.designmuseum.org/designsensewww.totemitalia.com
© Design Museum 2001
Case study: Wiggle Side Chair
In the 1960s a trend for cheap and lightweight materialsresulted in the development of cardboard as a material for furniture design. Although this was more ecologicallysound than plastic it did not have its durability.
In 1972 North American architect Frank O. Gehrydeveloped a cardboard material that he named‘Edge Board’. The material was constructed bygluing layers of corrugated cardboard in alternatedirections, a similar construction to plywood, and it was suitable for creating bothsculptures and furniture.
Although the furniture range was immediatelypopular Gehry discontinuedproduction because he wantedto concentrate on architecture.The chair is manufactured today by Vitra AG.
Using new materials
The designer Jane Atfield usedrecycled plastic sheet for her child’schair, the RCP2. Small pieces ofwaste plastic detergent bottles wereheated and then compressed to forma sheet of the material. In someplaces the original printed text fromthe bottles can be seen, and changesin the colour of the detergent bottlesresult in instant changes in the colourof the material. The chair has beenproduced by manufacturers Made of Waste since 1992.
Adhesive – a substance that is used to stick
objects together.
Aluminium – a lightweight silvery metal that
resists discolouration in air and can be shaped
without breaking.
Artisan – a skilled crafts person.
Assemble – to join together.
Compressed – squeezed together.
Construct – to make by fitting
parts together.
Corrugated – formed into alternate ridges
and grooves.
Durability – the ability to last, be hard-wearing.
Ecological – concerned with the relationship
of living things to their environment.
Ethical – correct.
Functional – designed for an intended purpose.
Polypropylene – one of a group of
thermoplastics used to make moulded
objects and fibres.
Precision – great accuracy.
Recyclable – able to be reused.
Sustainability – the ability to be maintained or
prolonged; protecting an ecological balance by
avoiding using up natural resources.
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D for designing 2Making connections
The way designers interact with each other andwith creative people from different disciplines
can also result in innovative products. Designers may work within different areas of design, such as product design, graphics, textiles andarchitecture, or they may be influenced by peoplewho are breaking new boundaries in art.
Working in teams
Designers often workcollaboratively. The architect Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret worked withdesigner Charlotte Perriand on anumber of projects including thefamous Grand Confort and ChaiseLongue chairs, which are still inproduction today.
Designing together during the1920s this team worked followingModernist principles and theChaise Longue formed part of a collection of chairs that were
Chairs
Chaise Longue à Reglage by Charlotte Perriandwith Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, 1928
Ant Chair
Although many products areattributed to just one designer theyare often the outcome of a teamworking together. The Ant Chairwas the result of the collaborationin 1952 of architect Arne Jacobsen’sin-house design team whichincluded the designer Verner Panton.
Influenced by designers Charlesand Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen
Ant Chair byArne Jacobsen, 1952
who were also producing chairsfrom moulded plywood, the firstmodel of the Ant Chair was the first mass-produced chair to havethe seat and back formed from asingle piece.
The chair has been in productionsince the 1950s and has beenmodified to include seats in avariety of colours; a four-leggedversion has also been produced.
designed to complement thearchitecture of Le Corbusier.
The materials were carefullychosen to follow the clean lines ofhis buildings whilst also providingcomfort for the user.
Charlotte Perriand (right) with Le Corbusier (left)
Biography:
CHARLOTTE PERRIAND
Born 1903, Paris.Education Studied interior design atthe Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.Career 1926 Showed metal furniture at the Société des ArtistesDécorateurs.1927– 37 Worked with architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret,designing furniture.1940 – 50 Lived in Japan and Indo-China.1950 –70 Worked as a furniture andinterior designer in Europe, Japanand Brazil.
Inspiration
Designers take inspiration for their creations frommany different sources, including the work of otherartists. For example, Italian designer AlessandroMendini created the Poltrana di Proust (Proust’sArmchair) as part of his series of ‘redesigns’ in 1978.
He was attempting to create a feel for the work oflate nineteenth-century author Marcel Proust and useda style of chair of the period. He took the design forthe surface pattern from a Pointillist painting, BaliseRouge, by the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Signac,an artist whom Proust allegedly admired.
Case study: Roodblauwe Stoel (Red/Blue Chair)The famous colour scheme of this chair was influencedby its designer’s membership of a modern art movement.
The architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld originally designed the chairfor his own use in 1918, but he believed that it should be possibleto produce it on an industrial scale. The construction of the chairlent itself to mass-production from standard-sizedpieces of wood. Its simplicity meant that it couldbe machined easily using basic tools andassembled by the customer.
The chair was initially left in unfinished woodbut was coloured in red, blue and yellow in1923. Rietveld was influenced by De Stijl, a movement that believed art should be based on basic shapes andcolours.
The chair has beenlikened to a 3D interpretationof a painting by Piet Mondrian,whose most famous works useonly straight linesand primary colourswith black, whiteand grey.
Chairs
Poltrana di Proust by Alessandro Mendini, 1978
© Design Museum 2001
Collaborate – to work with others
on a joint project.
Discipline – a branch of learning
or skill.
Innovative – bringing in new methods,
ideas.
Inspiration – a sudden brilliant,
creative or timely idea.
Interpretation – an individual view
of a work of art.
Modernist – relating to the style of
architecture and design popular from
the late 1920s and 30s.
Perspective – point of view.
Pointillism – a painting technique
placing tiny dots of colour side by side
so that from a distance they suggest
further colours.
Post-Impressionism – a movement
in painting in France in the late
19th century.
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For a Chair design briefinspired by a favourite painting,see activities sheet
A
Links …
Websites:
Artists and designers:
www.acmestudio.com
www.artnet.com
www.arttech.about.com
www.classicdesignitalia.com
www.iserv.net/~plucas/classics.htm
www.scandinaviandesign.com
www.skandium.com
The function of allchairs is the same:
to support the humanbody in a sitting position.How then can designersbe innovative with such abasic product? Innovationin chair design can arisefrom the identification of a need, the development of new materials or newmanufacturing processes.
Many innovative chairshave been designed over the last century. This section showcasessome of them.
I for innovationNew perspectives in chair design
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Understanding the user
In 1972 the designer Peter Opsvik’soldest son was two and hadoutgrown his high chair. Opsvikdiscovered that there were nochairs that would allow his child tosit at a comfortable height at thegrown-ups’ table. He says, ‘my firstreaction was that this was a pity,but as a designer this discoverywas a challenge.’ Opsvik’s aim wasto design a single chair that couldseat people of all sizes in a naturalway at the same table.
He started by drawing peoplesitting with their elbows at tabletoplevel. When he superimposed thevarious drawings on top of oneanother, it became clear that thechair’s seat and footrest wouldneed to be adjustable in and out,as well as up and down. Tripp Trapp Chair by Peter Opsvik, 1972
Every truly originalidea – every innovationin design, every newapplication of materials,
every technical inventionfor furniture – seems to find
its most importantexpressionin a chair. George Nelson, designer
“
”
Chairs
The result is the Tripp Trapp Chair. Small children sit on a higher seat than adults, and thisequalisation of height differenceimproves interaction between them.The broad, solid support for thefeet makes it easy for children tochange their sitting position, getup, reach for things and so on. This can improve a child’sconcentration on what is going on around the table.
In Scandinavia, mostkindergartens now have areas with adult-sized tables and TrippTrapp Chairs. This improves therelationship between teachers and children of different sizes andmeans that teachers do not have to bend down to low tables all the time.
Chairs
© Design Museum 2001
Identifying a trend
The ‘redesign’ of an existing product or the idea for a new oneoften comes about as a response to fashion, in activities or lifestyle. For example, the development ofcomputer games and their popularitywith young adults has given rise toseveral new design opportunities.
The idea for the Playstation®Armchair by Jerzsy Seymour was tomake a comfortable, multi-functional‘armchair’. Manufactured by BRF inItaly from polyurethane foam cut withthe aid of computers, it has no internalstructure and so is both economicaland easy to manufacture and lightenough to be picked up and moved around.
Case study: SaccoNumerous imitators have basedtheir own designs on Sacco.It was created in 1968 by Italian designersPiero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and FrancoTeodoro as a responce to the trend formore flexible seating. Initially theywanted to use transparent, non-rigidPVC filled with fluid for the shell of the ‘chair’, but this materialproved not to be strongenough and the contentswere too heavy.
As a result of modificationsto the design, the nowfamiliar fabric bag filledwith polystyrene balls wasborn. The ‘chair’ can beused in many different ways and is light and easily transportable. It isparticularly popular withchildren and young adults.
Ergonomic – created on the basis of studying
humans in relation to their environment.
Function – the intended purpose of a thing
or person.
Interact – to act upon or influencing each other.
Loom – a machine for weaving thread into fabric.
Rattan – bendable palm stems used as a
woven material.
Reinforced – strengthened.
Superimpose – to place over or on top of.
Trend – a general direction or fashion.
Wicker – bendable twigs that can be plaited
into a material for chairs, baskets, mats,
and so on.
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Links …Websites:
Sissel:www.sissel.com
Lloyd-Loom:www.lloydloom.com
Playstation® Armchair by Jerzsy Seymour, 2000
Manufacturing developments
In 1907 an American, Marshall BurnsLloyd, invented a special loom thatcould weave twisted paper into awoven fabric similar to wicker. Theprocess, which was patented in1917, meant that a Lloyd LoomChair could be produced in a quarterof the time it took to make a rattan or wicker version.
The chairs have been constructedever since from the woven paper –partly reinforced with steel wire –over a wooden frame. The Britishcompany which manufactures thechairs still uses these traditionalmethods and patterns butcontemporary designers have alsobeen commissioned to createfurniture for them.
Case study:
Gitta ChairThe Gitta Chair was designed by Gitta Gschwendtner when she was astudent at the Royal College of Arts.The manufacturers, Lloyd Loom ofSpalding sponsored a competition atthe RCA in 1997 and this design wonthe first prize. The chair subsequentlywon a Merit Award at the SingaporeFurniture Fair in 1999.
The under-frame of the chair isconstructed from steel tubes that arepowder coated with silver colour andthe body uses the traditional LloydLoom fabric.
Footrest can also be used as a work table or as a seat for a friend
Until the start of the twentieth century,few chairs were made in anything
but the traditional shape, relying ondecoration as a means of differentiation,but designers were quick to apply newmaterials and manufacturing processesdeveloped throughout the century to thisbasic product.
Case study:
Chair No.14This was probably the first mass-producedchair and was designed and first manu-factured by Michael Thonet & Sons in1865. It is still in production today.
The original method ofproduction involved boilingbeechwood strips in glueand then bending themusing iron moulds. Thonethad set up sales offices inmajor cities which enabledthe chair to be soldworldwide but the highhumidity in tropical areascaused the glue todissolve. In response tothis problem Thonetdeveloped a new methodof bending solid wood withsteam and replaced theglued wooden peg jointswith screws. Oneadvantage of this methodof production meant
Case study: B3, orWassily ChairAlthough tubular steel had been used forpublic furniture – in hospitals, cars andaeroplanes – since the late nineteenthcentury, Marcel Breuer’s B3 Club armchairof 1925 was the first of its kind.
At the time Breuer was the director of the woodworkshop at the Bauhausart school in Dessau. Hetook his idea from thetubular frame of his bicyclebut the bike’s manufacturerwas not interested, soBreuer worked with aplumber to produce theinitial prototypes from cold-bent nickel-plated tubularsteel. In 1926 he founded amanufacturing company,
M for manufacturing & materialsHow new technologies influence chair design
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Mass-production
Some designers experimented with new processes in order to meet the need for mass-producedfurniture. Others looked at the materials used for the mass-production of other items and applied them for the first time to making chairs.
The Design Museum’sMemphis resource pack,has more information onflatpack furniture
Chairs
Standard Mobel, in order tomarket the designs and aftersome initial changes thechair went into production. It could be shipped and solddisassembled: more than 50chairs could be packed intoa crate measuring 1 cubicmetre.The chair was named‘Wassily’ in honour of Breuer’scolleague at the Bauhaus, thepainter Wassily Kandinsky.
that the chairs could be shipped and sold‘flatpacked’. A cratemeasuring 1 cubic metrecould hold 36 dismantledchairs.
Case study: Slice Chair
Bengtsson was born inDenmark and, following hisgraduation from the DanishDesign School inCopenhagen, joined theRoyal College of Art furniturecourse in 1998. The firstversion of this chair made itsdebut at his final year showat the RCA, London.
The chair form is modelledin 3D on a computer, then
See teachers’ notesfor more aboutstructures
T
Materials and structures
In the early 1920s many designerswere experimenting with alternativestructures for chairs. The productionof a cantilevered chair was achallenge that inspired many ofthem. The Dutch architect MartStam was probably the first toachieve this but it was the B64Chair designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928 that became the mostfamous example: it is still inproduction today.
In the 1950s Verner Pantonworked on a cantilevered chair
B64 Chair by Marcel Breuer, 1928
Aluminium Flange Chairby Foundation 33, 2001
The Panton Chair by Verner Panton, 1959–60
Computers
The development of computer-aideddesign and manufacture (CAD/CAM)has opened up many new designopportunities. As a result, designersare now creating chairs that in thepast would have been completelyimpossible tomanufacturesuccessfully.
to be constructed from a single pieceof material. He achieved this in1955 with his S-Chair, which wasmade from moulded laminatedwood. This was a forerunner of hismost famous cantilevered chair, thePanton Chair, which is mass-produced today in polypropylene.(See the Design Museum’s VernerPanton resource pack for detailedinformation.)
Contemporary designers are stillexploring the possibilities ofcreating a cantilevered chair indifferent materials. The AluminiumFlange Chair is manufactured toorder by Foundation 33. It is madefrom two continuous strips of 4mm-thick aluminium that are bent and
welded to create a centralstructural flange. This is then bentin three different directions to formthe chair. As the material is weakthe central flange is essential toprovide strength. Although thechair will support the weight of thebody, even a simple sideways pushwill result in the structure wobbling.
The designer of this chair, Mathias Bengtsson, was inspired tocreate an organic piece that explored and made obvious theactual process of manufacture.
Chairs
© Design Museum 2001
sliced into layers by thesoftware. Each slice has a unique size and profile,much like a giant butterfly,which is cut out of a sheet of material. These 2-Dpieces are stacked one ontop of the other to createthe 3D form. The cuttingpattern of the sheets hasbeen researched carefully toreduce waste to a minimum.
Links …
Websites:
Foundation 33:www.foundation33.com
Design Laboratory:www.designlaboratory.com
Flange – a flat rib that
sticks out from an object
and strengthens it.
Nickel – a silver-white
metal which can be worked
without breaking and is
used for strengthening
steels.
Prototype – a trial model,
made so that a design can
be tested before it is
produced.
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How many times have you sat on a chair and, after a very short while, found yourself suffering
from backache or constantly moving your body intodifferent positions to get comfortable? Obviously nosingle chair can meet everyone’s needs and this whychairs have been developed that are targeted atdifferent people and for different uses.
See A for activities for instructions onmaking a Dreyfuss ergonome A
See the Design Museum’s Innovationresource pack for more information onHenry Dreyfuss Associates
Chairs
E for ergonomicsDesigning for comfort
➜➜
Measuring man
Henry Dreyfuss (1904–72) was an American industrial designerwhose work was based on itssuitability to ‘fit’ the human body.He used ergonomes – models ofthe human figure – called Joe andJosephine to help him createfunctional designs for telephones,aircraft seats and interiors for anocean liner, amongst other projects.
Henry Dreyfuss Associates stillprovides diagrams such as these to help designers and manufacturersproduce items that are the rightsize for the user.
Case study:
PalloneChair
The Swedish health and exercise equipmentcompany Sissel haveproduced this innovative‘work’ chair. The aim of the ergonomic design is to promote relaxed andhealthy sitting.
The seat is manufactured for both children and adults andconsists of an air-filled ball on aframe that has a padded, height-adjustable back. The ball isdesigned to reduce the pressureon the seat area, relieve tensionand strengthen the back, andcause the upper body and spineto assume a natural position. The comfortable ball encourages the user to change sitting positionfrequently and this prevents strainon individual muscle areas.
Diagram of Computerstations for women by Henry DreyfussAssociates
Chairs
Movement and variation:
Peter Opsvik’s chairs
In the 1970s many experts onergonomics were fighting to definethe correct and only sitting posture.Since the late 70s Peter Opsvik,one of Norway’s leading designers,has believed that it is important totry to break down our stereotypicalsitting habits and has devoted hiscareer to designing chairs thatinitiate a greater degree ofmovement and variation of posture.
He explains that such a chair ‘is of little use if people from theWestern world are to comply withthe conventions of sitting nicely andsitting still. We constantly receivesignals from the body, most ofwhich signal the desire for change.If we listened to more of thesesignals and acted on them to agreater extent, we would movemore freely and use postures thatare more natural to us, not leastwhile sitting.’
Opsvik was one of threedesigners who were asked by HansChristian Mengshoel to develop apiece of furniture designed forkneeling on. The resulting Balansstools are recommended for peoplewith back problems by Norwegiandoctors.
By shifting the user’s weightforward and allowing the knees to
Balans Variable Chair by Peter Opsvik, 1997
Case study: Credo Chair Credo’s ‘chair for every position’ motto makesreference not only to individual body postures but also to ‘positions’ within acompany. Early in the twentieth century it was primarily those in a position of authority within a business who wereprivileged to have a chair that tilted.
Peter Opsvik’s Credo Chairmoves freely from an active,seated posture with the chairbody tilted forwards to abackward-leaning rest posture.The sitter’s body is balanced and his or her feet regulate themovement. As Opsvik says, ‘ourfeet are experts in moving us, solet them control our movement in the chair as well’.
© Design Museum 2001
support the body they let the backmuscles soften and relieve tension.
Opsvik collaborates closely withthe manufacturers HÅG, StokkeFabrikker and Cylindra, all of whomhave received numerous Norwegianand international design awards.He has his own studio in Oslo andis assisted by six colleagues.
Balans Chair byPeter Opsvik, 1983
This is no ordinary rocking chair: flattenedsections of the runners allow it to rest inseveral positions.
Sitting in a rocking chair likethis gives the impression ofsitting in a wheel, which easilygenerates movement.
Convention – the most widely
accepted view about correct behaviour,
good taste, and so on.
Ergonome – a cut-out pattern of the
human body.
Initiate – to begin or to set going.
Posture – the position of the body
or limbs.
Stereotype – a person or thing that
matches a standard mental picture,
or lacks originality.
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The development of a variety ofhandling collections that enable
product evaluation and stimulateinspiration is of enormous value.Product analysis can be a vehicle forthe discussion of many issues in theclassroom: the research and design oflike products, inspiration and creativity,evaluation and the need formodification. It is also an excellent wayof increasing knowledge of materials,manufacturing techniques and function.
Case study: Slimline Folding ChairThe folding mechanism and structure of this contemporarychair by designer Tony O’Neill have been very carefullyconsidered and planned.
Chairs
H for handling collectionCreate your own Design Museum
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Creating a Chairs handling collection
For a permanent collection, we have suggestedconcentrating on folding chairs, which are relativelyinexpensive to buy, light enough to bring in fromoutside school, and easier to store than other chairswhen not in use. Assemble a collection of foldingchairs from second-hand furniture sales, relatives andfriends. Many high street stores sell inexpensivecontemporary folding chairs: examples in the style ofthe Hardoy Chair featured overleaf can be bought forbetween £10 and £20.
The main collection can also be expanded fortemporary projects: bring together a variety of chairsfrom around the school; students could bring in smallfolding chairs from home; add a folding pushchair anda collapsible high chair to give a different perspective.
The seat and back are hingedalong the centre and are made ofreinforced plastic. When the metalside frames are pulled apart theseat and back fold flat, formingright angles with the chair’s frame.The chair is then locked intoposition by the weight of theseated person. The central hinge is encased in a cylinder to preventthe folding mechanism catching the skin or clothing of the user.
The Slimline Folding Chair iscurrently in production.
Case study: BKFHardoy ChairThis design, commonly known as theButterfly Chair, was probably based on an English folding chair that was firstpatented in 1877.
In 1938 a team of three designers – Antonio Bonet,Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy and Juan Kurchan – called GrupoAustral re-worked the chair so that two loops of bentsteel rod were welded together to form a seeminglycontinuous frame. The tubular steel frame wasenamelled and the seat was leather.
The chair was originally mass-produced by Artek-Pascoe and used predominantly as a lounge chair.In 1945 Knoll took over production and unsuccessfullyfought a copyright lawsuit thatresulted in the chair beingcopied by many othermanufacturers. In Britain today a versionwith a metal frame andcanvas seat is availablefrom high street stores.
See A for activities forguidelines on productanalysis.
AAnalysis – a detailed
examination; a method to work
out how individual parts of a thing
or idea relate to the whole.
Copyright – the right to control
or produce an original idea or
product.
Evaluate – to judge or set the
worth of something.
Mechanism – a set of moving
parts that perform a function,
especially in a machine.
Portability – the ability to be
carried or moved easily.
Stimulate – to provoke or
increase (a sense, an activity, etc.).
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Chairs
Links …Websites:
Folding chairs:
www.argos.co.uk
www.everywherechair.com
www.gcioutdoor.com
www.habitat.com
www.plasticfoldingchair.com
www.trannon.com
Using a Chairs handling collection
Folding chairs can be used to demonstrate a variety of design issues:
• function: dining, camping, occasional use• mechanisms and structures: broken folding chairs
allow students to study structures and to analyse why they have broken
• materials: light, strong, cheap, new materials• ergonomics: comfort, safety• portability: how carried, weight, awkwardness• storage: compactness, collapsibility, size• target groups: domestic (gardens, small flats),
public, leisure (fishing, camping)• needs of society: changing perceptions of furniture,
changing lifestyles• design history: reasons for folding furniture
The handling collection can also provide a veryeffective introduction to a specific project. Differentcollections of chairs can be used to highlight aparticular design focus.
Designing for small children could require atemporary collection of chairs for the under-fives;designing for the office/working environment couldmean assembling a variety of computer or officechairs.
The larger and heavier the chairs, the more difficult itis to do this, but the temporary collection couldinclude chairs taken from around the school and thestudents could compare and contrast these withclassroom chairs. This could lead to a projectdesigning and modelling a new classroom chair.
A collection of just six chairs can allow studentsworking in small groups to analyse the chairs and thenpresent their findings to the rest of the class, giving5-minute presentations. Information on the design ofthe chairs can then be recorded and used to inform the students’ own design work.
© Design Museum 2001
Making an ergonomeUsing a maquette or an ergonome– a model of the human figure – willhelp you apply the right proportions toyour chair designs.
Use the ergonome you have made to check your chair design:
• Is the seat the correct size and height from the ground?
• Is the back the correct height?• If you are designing a workstation,
are the table and equipment set at the correct height for the user?
Maquette of the human body by Henry Dreyfuss. This diagram can be enlarged orreduced on a photocopier so thatyou can use it at the size needed.
Ergonome – a cut-out pattern
of the human body.
Maquette – a small sketch
or model.
Proportion – the size of different
things or parts in comparison to
each other.
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Chairs
A for activities
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A
1. Trace the different parts of the diagram so that you have: 1 head, 1 neck, 1 body, 1 upper leg, 1 lower leg, 1 foot, 1 upper arm, 1 lower arm and 1 hand. (Make sure that you follow the dotted lines when tracing neck and other parts.)
2. Cut out each of the traced pieces.3. Stick the individual body parts onto stiff
paper or thin card.4. Cut out each piece of card.5. Join the body parts at the places
indicated on the diagram with split pins.
Analysis – a detailed examination;
a method to work out how
individual parts of a thing or idea
relate to the whole.
Ergonomics – the study of
humans in relation to their
environment.
Evaluate – to judge the worth
or price of something.
Function – the intended purpose
of a thing or person.
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Angular – having angles or
sharp corners.
Curved – bent.
Reclining – leaning back.
Relaxing – resting.
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Chairs
Product analysis 1Choose a chair and evaluate its design.
Use these questions to help you. It is important to use sketches toillustrate your observations.
• What materials has the chair been made from?
• How has the chair been constructed?
• Does the chair have moving parts? If so, describe how they work.
Product analysis 2Draw the chair that you are looking at. Circle theareas that describe the chair that you are studying:
Size: large/small tall/short high/lowwide/narrow
Use: dining/relaxingworking/playing indoor/outdoor
Shape: upright/recliningangular/curved
Chair design briefDesign a chair that has been inspired by a favourite painting or image.
Study the chairs by Rietveld andMendini seen here and on the D for designing sheets. Researchthe two paintings that inspiredthem.
Choose an image/painting thatyou like and use it to influenceyour designs. The shape, surfacepattern or materials could be thefocus of your creation.
Use the ergonome you havemade to check your design.
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© Design Museum 2001
Poltrana di Proust by Alessandro Mendini, 1978
• What is the chair’s function? • Is it used to perform a
particular task?• Where would it be used? • Who is the target group?• Look at the ergonomics of the
chair. Is the design successful?• What improvements could be
made to the chair’s design? Sketch your ideas.
Materials: soft/hard warm/coldwood/metal/plastic/fabric
Now write down three differentways that you could improve the chair.
Inspire – to give a sudden brilliant,
creative or timely idea.
Influence – to have an effect on.
Research – to investigate
into; study.
Red/Blue Chair by Gerrit Reitveld, 1918
