It is always important sometimes to look back to see just how far things we enjoy today have come. When it comes to what is known as office chair, by tracking how the office chair evolved with the changing nature of work, we can better understand how we ended up sitting on chairs with ergonomic features.
This article takes us back to chair THEN, bring us to chair NOW and foresee the FUTURE chair.
Chair Then………………..
In 1900BC, the first example of chair designed for Purpose was the one Egyptian artisans' seat on to carry out their work. The chair helps them move their body efficiently and support the leant forward posture required.
The first use of what is known as office chair started over two centuries ago, when a Roman empire, called Julius Caesar use to conduct his business in a curule chair. Caesar was said to take his curule chair everywhere he goes. It was believe being seated on the chair gives greater authority.
In the years preceding the industrial revolution (early 1840's), office chairs are already existing to help with productivity. Charles Darwin pimped his William IV – style armchair to become what historian referred to as the first office chair on wheels. Charles Darwin alters the existing legs by replacing them with metal bed legs with casters on the bottom to make it easier for him to roll around his lab with much ease and access his specimen.
Why Industrial Revolution Calls For Modern Design?
As the industrial revolution started, in the mid-19th century, rail transportation was introduced, this makes business to grow, hence gave rise to growing in workers who spent a lot of time sitting. This change in working life called for new features on the office chair. The features were primarily centred on improving comfort to help workers stay comfortable and less fatigued throughout the day.
Rising to that demand, in 1849, American inventor, Thomas E. Warren designed the Centripetal Spring Armchair and manufactured by the American chair company, Troy- NY. This armchair used a swivel mechanism and casters to aid in office movement.
The Centripetal Spring Chair or Armchair was a 19th-century American office chair, and one of the first modern designs for office chairs.
Suicide Chair: Chair That Failed
A few years later, Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the Larkin Building chair to help office workers take a comfortable stance. Sadly, the precarious chair became what was known as the 'suicide chair', because it lacked the human-centred design features that we found today in Ergonomic chairs such as ergonomic mesh office chair, high back leather office chair, and many other office chairs out there in the market. Despite the issues associates with Wright’s Larkin Building chair, office chair continue to be popular.
Chair Now………………..
Ergonomic design- Creatures of Comfort!
Looking at the number of hours spent in chairs, in1976, designers started thinking of ways to better the workers' health and wellness and provide the much-needed ergonomics.
Bill Stumpf invented the famous Ergon Chair, which happens to be the first office chair created to improve comfort for the human body and sustain physical health. The ergonomic chair was meant to increase blood flow to the legs and provide spinal support and other adjustable features (just like the joolihome office chair I am sitting while writing this article).
It was designed with great features that provide seat and backrest filled with foam, more complex spine support, gas-lift levers to adjust height and tilt, and five-star legs with easy-glide casters. No wonder today's office chairs such as high back leather office chair, office chair with headrest and so many other joolihome office chairs are packed with these features.
Since then, office chairs started to resemble a status symbol. Senior executives and successful companies started to invest in expensive ergonomic chairs, mostly executive office leather chair(s), ergonomic mesh office chair(s) and other executive office chairs to match their status. And at most times you will find massage recliner chair in their offices to help them stay fit after long hours of sitting and working in the office. In fact, some usually cool off stress by playing video games sitting on the best gaming office chair in the market; when money isn't the problem!
Aeron Chair- What The Body Need
During the technological boom in the '90s, in collaboration with Don Chadwick, Bill Stumpf designed the Aeron Chair and was launched by Herman Miller. This Aeron chair made a statement and represented forward-thinking when the internet fuelled rapid innovations and changes in the workplace.
The Aeron chair's proposition was to bring forth what the body needs rather than just what the eye can see. Its most remarkable features were the reactive tilt and the pellicle mesh, supporting the back and regulate body temperature. These features help in modern office chairs, and the result can be seen as many office workers can now sit comfortably working for hours, making them more productive. Office mesh chair, office massage chair and recliner gaming chair are some of the best chairs you can find with these remarkable features.
Around 2010, manufacturers started to create less expensive office chairs that use fewer moving parts and left a minimal carbon footprint.
Future Office Chair………………..
What's next for the office chair? Even though more people are working in an office environment more than ever, the office chair's future is still unknown. Although research is still ongoing, preliminary studies have shown that most office workers should sit less and stand more. With more people becoming aware of the sedentary side effects, they have started to use the standing desks and treadmill desks.
Talking of standing desks- there are quite many automatic control standing adjustable desks that can be used in both standing and sitting positions. To mention but few, adjustable height office desk, standing adjustable desk and height adjustable computer desk. If you are like me that want to add some form of exercise in adjusting your desk, there is a unique manual height adjustable desk that I use in my home office. For those of you with small space, don't worry, Joolihome adjustable desk provides more ranges of small adjustable desks to choose from.
The office chair of the future may be lighter and more modular because it will be used in specific, task-oriented ways. The most impactful design innovation to come maybe the combination of time-tested design with a fundamental restructuring in the way office chairs are bought and sold, so more workers can take advantage of quality materials (like the green gaming chair I bought for my two daughters), ergonomic best practices and beautiful design – you can get a cheap massage chair with such features in joolihome massage chair store.
Conclusion
The modern office chair we enjoy now is a result of sacrifice from people more than two centuries ago. Each evolution stage comes with great joy to suit the time in question. No doubts, ergonomic design is the outstanding achievement of what is known today as modern chair. Even though there are many breakthroughs in office chair design as far as research is concerned, more needs to be done with standing desks and treadmills desks looking deep into office chair users' health and wellness. Until then, take a moment to lean back in your ergonomic mesh office chair and acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the designers that helped us sit the way we do—comfortable, in style, and ready to work. Remember you can find modern office chairs and standing desks of different sizes, colors and shapes in Joolihome online store.