Setu™ chairs

As today’s highly mobile knowledge workers spend more time than ever in a seated posture using electronic devices like PCs, laptops and smart phones, the need to mitigate the effects of sitting increases. Physiologically the human body is not made for sitting; back pain is among the top-five ailments effecting modern workers.

Setu provides instant comfort and healthy postural support without any mechanical controls or adjustments to fool with. The chair is ready for any body any time. As mobile workers switch between desk, conference table and café brainstorming session, their bodies can feel supported along the way with no more effort than lowering themselves into the chair.

Central to Setu’s no-mechanism functionality are the two kinematic beams that run down the outer edges of the chair. They mimic the synchronized tilt motion of a separate back rest and seat pan—a structure typical in most high-performance work chairs. The user and the chair move as one, and the body is fully supported in any reclined or upright position. Additionally, the minimal number of parts and the absence of interconnected moving components enhance durability and require little maintenance.

Setu weighs less than 19 pounds yet is capable of supporting up to 300 pounds. Because of the chair’s weight reduction coupled with its form, two Setu chairs can be delivered in one box, cutting transportation, energy and related costs by 50 percent. It also uses no PVC, contains 48 percent recycled content and is 92 percent recyclable at the end of its useful life with simple disassembly using basic hand tools. No coatings or polishing—processes that are expensive and often toxic, and generally burden the recycling process—were used. In order to leave the aluminum base raw, the design team looked elsewhere for a solution, borrowing an anticorrosive surface alloy from the automotive industry that doesn’t require added processing.

Credit: Design Team of Studio 7.5 for Herman Miller, Inc.

Contact: Mark Schurman: mark_schurman@hermanmiller.com