Chair: It has to be comfortable

A chair is a unique piece of furniture in that it has a dual role.  It has an aesthetic and a purpose.  As a standalone piece,  it has a different aesthetic with an occupant.  Here, I want to deal with a common misunderstanding about chairs, the notion that they should be “comfortable.”  Comfort has something in common with beauty.  It’s in the mind of the beholder.  We have no measure of comfort, no yardstick, no standards.   

But we do know one thing, that the seat must allow the sitter to change positions.  It must accommodate the transfer of pressure from one part of the body to another.  Might be a minor shift or much more of a change of position but the seat has to allow it.  When the design of the chair allows for this movement, comfort has been satisfied.  

Comfort came into focus years ago when a fast food chain had seating designed and made using a fiberglass shell to sit in.  The shell was fixed on a steel beam cantilevered out from a fixed table.  First impression on sitting in the seat was how superbly comfortable it was with its curved seat and lumbar support,  superbly comfortable until that initial tiredness was taken care of and you wanted to move.  No matter how slight the move, the fiberglass shell slid you right back to where you started.  The chair would not allow movement.  After about nineteen minutes tops, it was consciously or unconsciously unbearable.  Your brain told you to leave.  The fast food restaurant thanked you.