A. Wooden Dining Chair: This foldable wooden chair is found in the kitchen of my office. I always take notice to it because it is originally made and intended for the outdoors. It folds for easy storage but it folds from the back and not the front which makes it hard to operate. Although it doesn’t look like it, it is pretty comfy and is so easy to clean making it a perfect (although unintended) kitchen chair.
B. Industrial Stool: The silver metal stool is located in the storefront of where I work. It has a rustic vibe, I love the look and it is more than likely mass produced. It is too high for the counter where it’s located so I have to slouch over my computer when using that work station. It is not intended for long term use and serves its purpose as decor.
C. Office Chair: This rolling chair with a mesh back is the only one of its kind in our office. It is located in one of our meeting rooms and no one is sure how it got there. It is probably the most comfortable chair in the office and serves to be ergonomic and functional. You can lean back on it, move around with ease and adjustments can be made to fit the person sitting in it. It promotes good posture and makes me feel like I should sit up straight whenever I sit in it.
D. Starbucks Chair: This wooden chair is located at a Starbucks in Oakland. I like that the chair matches the design of the table. It is unique in that there are grooves in the seat for where your thighs rest. It is relatively comfortable and a good height for the table. One thing I did dislike about this chair is that it is very heavy. When you move it in and out it makes a really annoying loud noise disrupting everyone else in the cafe.
E. Airport Chairs: These chairs were located in the Las Vegas airport. They are made with (I assume) polyester and metal. There are arms between each seat to separate one seat from another, which also serves as a great barrier between you and the stranger next to you. It separates space but also prevents people from laying on multiple chairs to sleep. The way the back is positioned makes me feel like I can lay back and relax.
F. Bart Chairs: These are the chairs located on Bart (Bay Area Rapid Transit). They are made of water resistant material for easy cleaning. I use Bart every day for 2 hours a day and am constantly thinking about how dirty these seats are because of the amount of people that use them daily versus how often they actually clean them. What is striking is that there are no arm rests dividing the seats. People crowd around you during rush hour and there is no sense of privacy. They are cushioned but not that comfortable and very worn down.
G. Kaiju Couch: This couch is located in our retail store. It has a custom made print cover of a kaiju cage match scene. The couch itself was bought second hand and reupholstered by our in house pattern maker. It is a representation of our quirky company culture and a conversation starter. I can lounge on it and appreciate how unique it is. According to Cranz, “They (artists) used chairs as an opportunity to engage in social criticism and comment on social arrangements, including status, even to make visual puns,” and this chair is all about starting comments and social interaction.
H. Island Stool: This stool is located around the kitchen island at my parent’s house in Las Vegas. This is where the family sits to eat dinner. It doesn’t feel like a cozy family dinner chair, the striking metal back reads very unwelcoming to me; like metal gates blocking entry ways. It is not particularly comfortable, very heavy and is supposed to rotate in circles but doesn’t do so easily. My parents purchased this for aesthetics and not comfort, “If the shape of a chair communicates the right message, we don’t care how it feels physically. How it feels emotionally is what counts,” (Cranz, 67).
I. My Office Chair: This is my office chair and I despise it. We have standing desks and higher stools for us to sit in when we don’t want to stand. It is poorly designed, the foot stool is broken so my legs dangle; by the end of the day I have knee pain. The seat is curved, the back support is flimsy so when you lean back you feel like you’re going to fall off the chair. I don’t stand as much as I should and I’m starting to think that we got uncomfortable chairs to promote more standing.
J. Home Couch: This is the couch I lounge around on in my own home. It is “L” shaped, large and perfect for binge watching Netflix. It is made with durable poly linen and matches the decor in the rest of the house. I have had it for four years and it has survived 3 moves. My favorite thing to do is to take naps on it (which I don’t get to do anymore)! It is not too soft and not too hard and has maintained it’s firmness all this time.
K. Blush Velvet Accent Chair: The blush and gold colored accent chair lives in my bedroom. It has been sat on a total of 5 times and was a splurge purchase from West Elm. It is beautiful, modern, decorative and very comfortable. I can lean back on it and lounge on it whenever I please. I love that it is large and as Cranz mentioned in the reading, I subconsciously feel like a queen in it, “the bigger the chair, the more power and status accrues to the sitter.”
L. Chair on Chair: The bone colored accent chair is located in the guest room of my parent’s house. The striking feature of this is the massage chair on top of the chair that is remote controlled. I took a picture of it because it didn’t seem like the best chair to use for this purpose but it seems to work. It is super comfortable and the massage pads works great on it. The chair is firm and gives enough support for your back during the massage. It is not particularly beautiful with the current set up, which is probably why it’s tucked away in a private room but it has great purpose.
Citation
Cranz, Galen. The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body, and Design. W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.