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 belong 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?