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Chairs: Part 1

I don't believe in a Platonic chair; a single stool upon which one might perch perfectly. I own a book called 1,000 Chairs which I peruse for fun from time to time. Given that I really don't even have room for any more chairs, why would I still look?

There's something that I find especially aesthetically appealing about chairs, well-made ones, I mean. It has something to do with elegant restraint. Consider that a lamp, for instance, can allow for countless permutations of form and material, so long as there is still room for light to escape. A chair, by contrast, is much more limited. A chair is the haiku of furniture. The parts of the chair that touch the body must support a good amount of weight, and in a manner that does not put too much stress on any given point. At the same time, it must support a wide variety of human bodies across a sizable range of positions that we generally consider "sitting." Thus, many considerations constrain the design process. The deep need to consider functionality adds to the risks and the rewards of adventurous designs. 

Often a chair that is almost perfect for one application, is particularly unsuited for others. A great reading chair does not make a good dining chair. A great office chair should not be serviceable as a lounge chair. A certain resistance is required to keep one focused. The "optimal chair" is always a function of what one will be doing while sitting, for sitting is just the beginning when it comes to chairs. 

At dinner, a relatively firm back is needed to support a fixed and upright posture. Some give is ideal but we are not looking for a recliner. Padding or no? The molded plywood body of an Eames dining chair is more comfortable than most padded chairs because of the firm convexity of its form, which the human body distributes itself across evenly and organically at a slight backwards incline. At the same time, dining chairs don't have to be that comfortable. Dinner doesn't last all night and one is focused on other things like eating and conversing. Some dining chairs have arms but most don't. Too often, they get in the way.

At this moment, I am sitting in an office chair: the Steelcase Freedom (armless variety). I bought it on eBay from a used office chair vendor (Madison Seating, $174.99). Before I settled in this chair, I had bought an Aeron chair (1st gen) from the same vendor. I found myself constantly adjusting the foam bar that serves as its "lumbar support," often with a back ache. There is a lot of optionality with this chair; a great number of switches, knobs, and other gizmos. Yet, throughout the day, I found myself fidgeting out of frustration, tweaking settings again and again, not because it was fun, but because I could not settle in any one position for long without discomfort. The Aeron was constructed from breathable material, which was a boon, and I liked the adjustable armrests, which moved up and down and pivoted across three horizontal positions, but now I am much happier in my little Freedom chair. Luckily, my wife loves the Aeron. 

The Freedom has some kind of special gel padding that is form fitting and a reclining mechanism that is nominally self-locking. A spring system allows for organic reclining when a little extra effort is laid into your lean. Then, it holds that position quite well while you work on whatever you do. No chair is perfect, but I am very pleased with this purchase, in particular.




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