The balance Ball Chair

Now that i finally understand its about the movement of the hips and lower back and the strengthening of core muscles i had another look online, and found this rather strange looking Swiss Ball Chair. It is basically just a swiss ball placed within this strange looking chair holder.

And although i find the appearance of this chair a little weird, the basic structure is simple yet effective.

Stimulating Muscle Movement

So i thought i'd start with designing some rough concepts of chairs, focussing solemnly on the ways these could simulate movement of the spinal position, and straight away i realized i needed more information. The chairs shown above are just quick sketches i had a go at this morning when i realized i need to figure out first where in the chair exactly the movement is needed, i placed one rotational point underneath the seat and one in the back of the seat. In the Placentero Chair the rotation point was too low to prevent lower back issues, but where exactly is the vital point of rotation?

Online i researched the basic information about back pain to help me understand how to solve this issue, and on the websitewww.medicinenet.com they gave me a list of the most common causes of lower back pain:Number 1 is a Lumbar Strain, "this is a stretch injury to the ligaments, tendons and/or muscles of the lower back. The stretching incident results in a microscopic tear of varying degrees in these tissues. It can occur due to overuse, improper use or trauma"Number 2 is a Nerve Irritation, "The nerves of the lumber spine can be irritated by mechanical impingement or disease anywhere along their paths- from the roots at the spinal cord to the skin surface."Number 3 is Lumbar Radiculopathy, "which is a nerve irritation that is caused by damage to the discs between the vertebrae. Damage to the disc occurs because of degeneration ('wear and tear') of the outer ring of the disc, traumatic injury, or both.Number 4 is Bony Encroachment, which is basically either movement or growth of the vertebrae of the lumbar spine which can then limit the space of the adjacent spinal cord and nerves.Number 5 is Bone and Joint Conditions, "this includes conditions that lead to lower back pain existing from birth and those that result from wear and tear (degenerative) or injury, and those that are due to inflammation of the joints (arthritis). Number 6 is as a result of other problems, "Other causes of lower back pain include kidney problems, pregnancy, ovary problems and tumors."
Further on i found the most vital part of information as they went on to say that the movement of the spine is strongly influenced by the movement of the hips as the muscles in our lower back is obviously closely connected to the hipbone.Finally i realized the prime importance is not in the moving of the back rest of the chair or in the movement of the entire chair but rather in the rotational movement of the actual seating part by itself.

Limitations

When researching the problem of lower back pain online i found out that the deteriorating of tissue between vertebrae is caused over time by great pressure being applied in stationary position of the spine. Just like my physiotherapist had told me this can be prevented by applying more movement to the spine.

The Ruby Rocking Chair and the Placentero Chair have started to tackle this issue but the movement of the spine when seated in these chairs is still fairly minimal.

The Ruby Rocking Chair is restricted to straight back and forward movement and although the Placentero chair is able to move freely in any direction, because of the solid, sphere-like shape of this the movement is of the body as a whole rather than moving the spine and its position.

The Ruby Rocking Chair

The next rocking chair i found had an entirely different look once again. This one was invented by a designer called Pouyan Mokhtarani and described as an anatomic rocking chair. Not only is it designed to visually reflect the image of the human body, it is also designed to stimulate back-muscle movement and therefore decrease back problems. The movement of the back muscles in this design are restricted however to simply backwards and forwards motions, as due to the parallel legs of the rocking chair sideways motion is impossible.

The Placentero Chair

The next modern rocking chair i found was more successful then the last. Although its purpose was not focused on the resolving of the lower back problems issue, the spotlight was still on the idea of health and comfort. The chair is designed by a young Argentinian designer known as Batti and named The Placentero Chair. The name is a combination of the words placenta and pleasure, as it is based on the experiences of a human being before birth. Especially the sphere-like soft surrounding aspect and rocking ability of it create this amazing experience. The experience of returning to ones pre-birth state being highly valued in many healing practices as it is known to bring both peace and calmness.

The Rocking Chair

When i thought of Chairs and movement i immediately thought of the old-fashioned rocking chair. I jumped onto the internet again and looked for some a little more recent designs of rocking chairs. This one i found made me laugh when the comment was posted underneath:

I purchased this excellent looking rocking chair. But when i went to pull of a 360 degree roll i was ejected and it ran me over. Then it tipped over on the thin side trapping me for 49 hours. I tried to attach a seat belt but to my dismay i spun 3/4 the way around but it choked me out luckily i had my handy duty scissors accompanieng me at my side pocket. I will never risk my life on this monstrosity ever again.

Im not sure who in this case is sillier, the designer to create such a strange and dangerous rocking chair, or the person who purchased it and actually thought that it was meant to rotate the entire 360 degrees. Either way i don't think this design will be of much of help.

The problem with chairs

The functioning of an object is obviously the prime importance in the design project, since designing something which doesn't work just plainly defeats the purpose. This is possibly the reason there are so many different chair designs also, the functioning of seating is different everywhere. So to continue my research on designing a chair i guess i should choose the requirements of this first. Indoor or outdoor seating? Children or adult? Household or public areas? Mobile or connected to the surrounding environment? transport seating? Transformable seating?

And with all these questions in the back of my head i went for a visit to my physiotherapist.
He told me that the number one complains he gets from his patients is people with back problems.
On Wikipedia: 'Back pain is one of humanity's most frequent complaints. In the U.S., acute low back pain (also called lumbago) is the fifth most common reason for physician visits. About nine out of ten adults experience back pain at some point in their life, and five out of ten working adults have back pain every year.'
He went on to tell me, that this is often caused by chairs and other forms of seating, as people spend a large amount of time with their spine in one position. This puts an enormous amount of pressure upon the spine causing it to wear or displace. But he said this problem can be fixed. If instead of being kept stationary, the lower back is moved slightly now and then, this will distribute the pressure of the weight better and also keep back muscles activated. The required movement is minimal and similar to the Swiss-ball idea.

Materiality

Not only the forms i found of the designer chair is limitless, even the materials used to expand on the designers ideas and aesthetic value are extremely broad. The top left image shows a chair entirely created out of stuffed animal panda toys, slightly strange? The one next to this is created out of different types of plastic to reflect the form of an anemone, quite inventive i thought. The bottom two images are not made to reflect such straight foreword themes. Made out of plastic and paper the practicality of these chairs can be questioned, yet their originality is unquestionable. I guess the uniqueness of these designs kind of makes up for the fact that they have almost become entirely functionless.

Form follows function

So i guess these next chairs i found weren't really invented for their comfortability. Their inventive nature of form does interest me though. The different shapes within the design combined to create a seat is interesting, if working with the right materials the possibilities of form would be limitless.

Wooden Chairs

So on the internet i researched some chairs, and discovered that there are more different designs of chairs than i have hairs on my head. Being quite overwhelmed i decided to look at some wooden chairs first. They have a very appealing look about them, being created out of the traditional material of wood, which to me is quite a warm and pleasant media, yet having quite modern designs to fit in nicely in todays homes and gardens. I wonder about the comfortability of these chairs though...

The Chair

So i chose the chair.

In the dictionary described as a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs. I guess they've been with us for thousands of years, and are traditionally made out of wood

Project 2: Rethinking Form and Function

So, this is the start of our second project.

Building on the design principles we explored in the first project we will now experiment with, and question conventional design objects and items, by rethinking or redesigning a new digital object. (Chair, Skateboard, Laptop computer or 3D Business card) We'll be working with both 2D and 3D ways of presentation and working in computer software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe illustrator and Google Sketch Up. "To be an innovative designer we need to be able to question the status quo, what makes it work, how can we make it beautiful?"