Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | I | Industrial Engineer

A seat in history: the origin of designing chairs for task, health and manufacture.

Article Excerpt
IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, ARCHITECTS such as Frank Lloyd Wright gained iconic status, and their influence also exemplified the lack of importance patent seating had in the design world. Wright's female office seating featured a box-like form lacking height adjustment or lumbar contouring. It could not compare with the task-appropriateness of patent seating available in his native United States a decade earlier. Some of these office chairs were three-legged, the third leg at the back so that the chair tipped if the occupant leant forward to the desk. Patent seating a decade earlier used backrests that supported the natural curve of the low back and maintained an erect and stable posture whether the sitter was using the forward tilt or reclined facilities of the chair.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Yet Wright's office seating continues to be applauded by furniture historians because it was aesthetically designed to accord with the office decor.

In recent ergonomics journals there has been a call for more consideration of aesthetics in the design of ergonomic seating. Such a proposal is termed "hedonomics" and emphasizes the important role that aesthetics plays in consumer choice. Providing the health of the sitter and task-appropriateness of the chair are not subordinated to the aesthetic component of the design, then incorporating considerations of task, health and aesthetics could be a template for optimal seat design, whether the seat is to be used for work or recreation. All that remains is to educate the consumer as to the consequences of sustained sitting in slouched postures for periods even as short as 10 minutes. These are an outpouring of inflammation into the spinal tissues, reactive back muscle spasm, loss of stability of the spine, cumulative trauma and pain.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One of the ironies of the 19th century was that although it was a technological era, people viewed progress from a cultural rather than a technological perspective. Consumers forfeited comfortable and healthy seating in order to conform to sociocultural conventions of perceived sophistication and willpower.

A look at history can provide a window to modern solutions in safety, comfort and, yes, aesthetics.

Documenting comfort and health

In the United States between 1850 and 1900, newly invented mechanization was used in an innovative and proficient manner to produce patented seat furniture. Patent furniture was designed to be durable and easy to use, and the manufacture was simple and economical. In addition, patent seating took into account the natural curves of the spine and facilitation of task performance and could therefore be said to...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!