2022 Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting
Seating Units
Bamboo Soul Seat | 2022
Designers: Pack Matthews, Ikaria Design Company LLC., Columbia, Missouri, USA Manufacturer: Ikaria Design Company LLC., Columbia, Missouri, USA
Project Description
In this era of Sitting is the New Smoking, every chair designed for the knowledge worker is challenged to facilitate focus and movement simultaneously. Can form and function still collaborate?
So many iconic chairs we look to still hail from the last mid-century. This most essential tool for knowledge workers must now play well with stand-up desks, the home office camped out on the dining table, and be the least disruptive alternative to workstation furniture already invested in by the freelancer and the firm. Enter the Bamboo Soul Seat, an iconic chair for the 21st century.
It brings form and function into alignment with what we now know about the essential needs of the human body in a healthy work environment. The Soul Seat pioneers the category of a bi-level chair.
It is as aesthetically compelling as it is functionally revolutionary. By providing a small adjustable cushion (201cPerch201d) pneumatically suspended above a larger horizontal cushion (201cButterfly201d), the user can access all the postures of floor sitting even if they are no longer flexible enough to sit comfortably on the floor. With a pneumatic lift for the smaller cushion, the user can make subtle or large changes in its height relative to the larger cushion without having to pull focus away from their work.
A sturdy base made from custom steel components and Plyboo legs provides a stable plinth that manually adjusts from conventional chair height all the way to drafting stool height. Pack Matthews created Ikaria Design Company to take his patented chair to market. In collaboration with a network of Midwestern artisans and engineers, they craft every component and fabrication process locally.
Healthy design reaches all the way into the choice of sourcing Plyboo for the legs, water-based finishes, and Eco-Wise fabric from Pendleton Wool, (a Cradle-to-Cradle certified option). The company lives out its commitment to upcycling by providing a BuyBack Program to every customer. Every re-purchased chair is refurbished and offered back to the market.
Several customers have utilized this program specifically because their regular use of the Soul Seat helped them regain enough mobility to work on the floor. The company also produces unique floor desks for just this stage of the customers’ journey.
