Masahiko Ito redesigns school chair to improve posture and reduce fidgeting
Via, DeZeen
Called Saddle Seat, the chair features a narrow, curved body that resembles the shape of a horse saddle.
“Saddle Seat is a new archetype school chair that provides good posture and encouraging movement in order to maximise concentration” said Ito, who studied Product and Furniture Design at Kingston School of Art.
“It leverages design to tackle both physical and mental issues that are currently overrunning our culture.”
When designing the chair, Ito looked at the relationship between posture and concentration.
“I noticed that we naturally want to fidget and to move around in our chairs, for instance when we concentrate on our teacher, we tend to sit in a more alert position towards the front of our chair in a kind of riding position, while when we reflect, we tend to recline,” he said.
The structure of the Saddle Seat encourages children to sit upright, which Ito believes is important to maintaining interest and concentration while sitting.