Hasta La Ideas

Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: fuseproject – Yves Behar
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Category: Furniture/Lighting
Award: Winner

Herman Miller SAYL Chair

The Herman Miller SAYL chair combines innovative technology and high design in an affordable breakthrough chair that sets new standards of performance, quality and appearance. SAYL has a full-suspension back that is literally frameless, giving it both unique support and an iconic form.

We took an eco-dematerialised approach, removing excess materials while maintaining a high level of quality. In completely re-thinking every design element, we created a better, smarter chair that sets a new standard for performance and aesthetics. By eliminating as much material as possible, we shaped each functional piece to be beautiful, expressive and tactile, revealing structural innovations like the Y-tower and ArcSpan as critical elements in the ergonomics and design aesthetic.

One of the distinguishing elements of SAYL is its frameless full-suspension back. Different degrees of tension are infused into the injection-molded back’s proprietary material, providing comprehensive support. The 3-D intelligence that this design provides lets the chair adapt to individual shape and movements.
The arc of the suspension back also gives SAYL its unique shape. The elegant form easily slips into any space giving a sense of visual lightness and transparency. With a sense of humility, it attempts to achieve high-tactility design rather than a visual statement.

Eco-dematerialization contributed to the chair’s aesthetics, but also reduced the process’ impact on the earth. Producing the chairs on three continents decreases the distance between factory and buyer. Chairs ship ready to assemble in half-size boxes, reducing waste. The materials used in production are sustainable and the SAYL chair is targeted to achieve MBDC Cradle to Cradle Silver, BIFMA level 2 and GREEN GUARD certifications.

Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?

The SAYL chair family is currently available, both online and at retail, in many colors and finishes. The translucent back, a huge material innovation, will soon be available, along with other new material offerings. We are also working towards upgrading our current Cradle to Cradle Silver level to Gold!

What is 1 quick anecdote about your project?

“Build it, Break it, and repeat until it is right” This is a mantra we used throughout the design process of SAYL. Instead of simply approaching this project as another chair design for Herman Miller, we wanted to do it differently. By growing the chair from the ground up and using the build, break, repeat mantra, we were able to innovate all parts of the SAYL chair. The frameless suspended back material is an innovation that reduces material used, increases dynamic comfort, encourages movement, and is lower cost too.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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