Office chairs: Are you sitting down?

You deserve a good seat at the table. Office chairs are under siege—and it’s not entirely a bad thing. As more mobile workers are unshackling from their desks, almost any moderately comfortable perch qualifies as office seating today. But technically speaking, office chairs belongs to a special furniture category: They typically have wheels, lumbar support, and a load-bearing gas-lift leg—all designed to give workers the healthiest, most comfortable seat possible. To counteract the [notorious pitfalls of sitting,]( industrial designers have been coming up with ergonomic solutions for decades, resulting in the dizzying array of styles and options. From ancient Egyptian artisans to Charles Darwin (who created the first modern office chair—yes, really!) figuring out a better way to get stuff done while seated has been an age-old human obsession. Where will our deepening understanding of human physiology and psychology take the office chair next? Sit down and find out. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Weekly Obsession] Office chairs December 08, 2021 Get up, stand up --------------------------------------------------------------- Office chairs are under siege—and it’s not entirely a bad thing. As more mobile workers are unshackling from their desks, almost any moderately comfortable perch qualifies as office seating today. But technically speaking, office chairs belongs to a special furniture category: They typically have wheels, lumbar support, and a load-bearing gas-lift leg—all designed to give workers the healthiest, most comfortable seat possible. To counteract the [notorious pitfalls of sitting,]( industrial designers have been coming up with ergonomic solutions for decades, resulting in the dizzying array of styles and options. From ancient Egyptian artisans to Charles Darwin (who created the first modern office chair—yes, really!) figuring out a better way to get stuff done while seated has been an age-old human obsession. Where will our deepening understanding of human physiology and psychology take the office chair next? Sit down and find out. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi Listen up How we 🪑 now --------------------------------------------------------------- Quartz At Work reporter—and author of this very email—Anne Quito has been researching office chairs for seven years. So what does she sit on now that she works from home? Guess from the following: - A Herman Miller Aeron chair (so iconic, so mesh) - An exercise ball (good for the core) - A stepladder (sometimes, you just have to get creative) Anne defends her sitting choices and criticizes executive editor Kira Bindrim’s—then dives deep into the cutthroat world of office chairs in the [newest episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast](. 🎧 Sit back and listen to all this season’s episodes on [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google]( | [Stitcher]( ✦ Psst! This is the last episode of Season 1, unless you’re a member! [Sign up for a free 7-day membership trial today]( to receive a special bonus episode next week. Sponsored by American Express [Listen now!]( Giphy By the digits [83%:]( Rise of sedentary jobs in the US since 1950 [473:]( Calories a reporter burned in five days of “deskercising” using under-the-table cycling equipment [$5,000:]( Starting bid for Dr. Evil’s motorized executive chair from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. In International Man of Mystery, the scene-stealing villain also sits on a swiveling version of the [Hans Wegner-designed Ox chair]( which [retails for upward of $10,500](. [£38,000 ($51,500)](: Price of Elysium-R, an executive chair launched in Rolls-Royce luxury car showrooms in 2018 [$8,098:]( Taxpayer money spent on a fancy office chair by a West Virginia judge [~12,000:]( Seats at Apple’s headquarters in 2018. Jony Ive personally selected the [Vitra Pacific]( task chair designed for its minimalist profile. [250 lbs:]( Maximum weight an average office chair can support; “[Big and tall](” models accommodate weights of up to 800 lbs [$2.2 million:]( Amount a Florida jury awarded a man whose office chair collapsed under him in 2003 [$25,000:]( Price of an NFT office chair designed by Andrés Reisinger. No, this is [not a joke](. Definition [Sitzfleisch]( (ZITS–flysh): “Chair glue.” The German word for the ability to sit through something boring or complex for a considerable amount of time. Briefish history [1900 BC:]( Drawings and sculptures of forward-tilted stools dating back to the 12th Dynasty are discovered in Egypt. Scholars say the slight angle adjustment helped artisans perform their work. [1840s:]( Charles Darwin hacks a William IV-style armchair. The father of evolution pimped his office chair with cast-iron bed legs on casters so he could roll around in his lab with greater ease. Historians say [Darwin’s makeshift marvel]( is the first office chair on wheels. [1851:]( The [Centripetal Spring Armchair](—one of the first adjustable office chairs—is a hit at the World’s Fair. The upholstered chair with an elaborate skirt to hide the under-seat springs was so comfortable, it was deemed immoral. In the Victorian era, sitting on an uncomfortable chair was a sign of virtue, refinement, and willpower. [1904:]( Frank Lloyd Wright designs a beautiful but unstable office chair for typists. Secretaries soon dubbed the three-legged Larkin Building chair as the “[suicide chair](” because of its tendency to tip over easily. Wright defended its flawed engineering using the same old Victorian virtue excuse. (See above.) [1954:]( Charles and Ray Eames’s Pivot Armchair Cast Base on Castors (or “PACC” for short) debuts. The molded fiberglass and plastic chair brings color to drab offices. (Vitra) [1976:]( Emilio Ambasz and Giancarlo Piretti’s “Vertebra chair” aspired to mold to the occupant’s body “as to become virtually invisible and undetectable.” [1994:]( Herman Miller introduces the Aeron, designed by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf—a gadgety and fully-adjustable alternative to padded units that came before it. It was chosen for the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection a month before its public debut in Cologne, Germany. [2007:]( Donald Trump puts his name on a collection of wood and pleather office chairs for Staples. [Donald Trump Launches Trump Office For Staples]This happened. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images) [2013:]( Neutral Posture introduces the “Guardian Chair,” an ergonomic computer chair kitted with a bulletproof vest to protect students from gunshots. The manufacturer [expedited the launch]( of the $1,900 units after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. [2018:]( In an attempt to unseat the Aeron, furniture giant Steelcase unveils SILQ, an ultra-sleek office chair model designed to instantly adapt to a sitter’s body movements without fiddling with knobs and levers. [2020](: Demand for ergonomic seating solutions spikes during covid-19 lockdowns. [2021:]( Herman Miller announces that all Aeron models will be made from ocean-bound plastic—an idea pioneered by [competitor Humanscale]( three years prior. Giphy Pop quiz Which of these famous writers worked sitting down? Virginia WoolfCharles DickensErnest HemingwayMark Twain Correct. Mark Twain preferred a proper straight-back wood chair, but the other novelists—and many others—penned their masterpieces standing up. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Angle of repose The case for leaning in --------------------------------------------------------------- Chair settings are tweaked according to cultural norms, according to industrial designer Martin Potrykus of Berlin-based [ITO Design](. For example, knowing that most Americans like to lean back, office chairs in the US are delivered pre-reclined. In contrast, Japanese workers tend to only occupy the front of the seat. Status symbols The rise and fall of boss chairs --------------------------------------------------------------- Much has been said about the Aeron’s ergonomic comfort, but few know about its seminal role in democratizing the look of offices. Until the 1990s, office chairs communicated hierarchy: Costlier, high-back styles were reserved for executives, chairs with arm rests went to mid-level management, and no-frills seating was for secretarial staff and admin personnel. The Aeron was a “rejection of the traditional corporate chair hierarchy,” as architecture professor Witold Rybczynski explains in his book, [Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History](. Million-dollar question Have we passed peak office chair? --------------------------------------------------------------- After spending years analyzing and testing hundreds of office chairs for his 2011 book, [A Taxonomy of Office Chairs](, [Jonathan Olivares]( told Quartz in 2018 that he was ready to do without them. Instead of ergonomic models, the celebrated Los Angeles-based industrial designer uses a stool without a backrest as his office chair. “It’s very comfortable for two hours of work, which is all I ever do in one sitting,” Olivares said, referring to the [Mezzadro seat]( designed by Italian modernism pioneer Achille Castiglioni. “I’m most excited about the trend when we don’t use office chairs anymore. There’s a whole other series of workspaces popping up that don’t really rely on the office chair. Sofas are much more important; lounge chairs are interesting,” he said, while perched on a poolside recliner. Turns out he was right. Judging from the [range of seating]( we’re trying out in our makeshift pandemic home offices, perhaps committing to one expensive, ergonomic solution designed for hours of sitting is based on a defunct, and ultimately unhealthy idea of work. Quotable “Sitting is to be thought of as a compromise position since man in his natural habitat functions best when he is either erect and moving or supine and resting… Many of our ailments are by-products of sitting.” — American industrial designer and ergonomics pioneer [Niels Diffrient]( Poll What do you look for in a work chair? [Click here to vote]( Enough space for my catBack support—no one's getting any youngerWho sits anymore??? 💬 LET'S TALK! In last week’s Obsession about [anosmia](, 43% said that, if you suffered from a loss of smell, you’d miss the smell of freshly baked bread over your partner’s fragrance, flowers in the spring, or what the Rock is cooking. We agree, except for the Rock bit. 💌 We also got a lot of mail from readers about their own experiences with anosmia, whether from covid-19 or otherwise. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20office%20chairs.%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) [🎲 Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Anne Quito](, edited by [Jessanne Collins](, and produced by [Luiz Romero](. [facebook]([twitter]([external-link]( The correct answer to the quiz is Mark Twain. Enjoying the Quartz Weekly Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Weekly Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States