Hasta La Ideas

Promotion: since the early 2000s furniture design brand Herman Miller has collaborated with Berlin-based design firm Studio 7.5 on a range of ergonomic workplace seating solutions, including the Cosm and Setu chairs.

Studio 7.5 says it places emphasis on developing furniture in three dimensions as opposed to relying solely on digital modelling programmes, in order for practical experimentation to occur.

The studio’s collaborations with Herman Miller have resulted in the design of four distinctive seating solutions – the Zeph Chair, Setu Chair, Cosm Chair and Mirra 2 Chair.

According to Studio 7.5, its furniture aims to bring a sense of playfulness and colour to workplace environments, which often prioritise functionality and efficiency over dynamic interior design schemes.

“As designers, we strive to do good work: creating something meaningful, that contributes to the wellbeing of people,” said co-founder of Studio 7.5 Carola Zwick.

Cosm designed by the studio has an in-built tilt mechanism that automatically adjusts to the sitter’s posture.

The tilting of traditional office chairs has to be fine-tuned by hand, manually making alterations to various knobs and levers. Studio 7.5 sought to eradicate this need to create a smoother experience for the user.

Cosm‘s design process involved the creation of hundreds of prototype segments – some hand-sculpted and others 3D-printed – resulting in refined features such as the chair’s gently inclined Leaf Arms, which provide a cradle that supports the elbow.

The chair has won various awards since its launch, including a Red Dot Best of the Best Product Design Award in the Office Chairs category in 2019, and was listed by TIME as one of the 100 Best Inventions of the same year. In 2020, it also received an iF Gold Award in the Office and Industry category.

The design of Studio 7.5’s Setu chair was informed by the studio’s observations of how people work throughout the day in the modern world.

The studio identified that people work more collaboratively across a variety of settings, but spend less time in each spot, calling for a chair that can “adapt to the needs of a variety of users over the course of a working day”.

For example, according to Herman Miller, post-pandemic workspaces need more collaborative spaces for interaction, including seating solutions that are adaptable to changing tasks and “flexible layouts for employee numbers in flux”.

The brand says this is due to hybrid working organisations facing a “constant change in the number of people working across spaces in the office” and its chairs – such as Setu – are not only designed for various tasks but also to adapt to different body shapes and heights.

Setu is equipped with a flexible segmented aperture that supports the chair and bends and flexes to provide immediate comfort.

The seat and back are formed of one piece of elasticated material, which has a taut suspension that provides both support and aeration and adapts to the natural movements of the body.

Cosm and Setu, alongside the other chairs in Herman Miller’s catalogue, can be used in a range of environments for a variety of purposes.

While Cosm and Mirra 2 are especially well-suited to desk use – where people sit for an extended period of time when working – Zeph and Setu can be used across other areas of offices, such as in breakout areas and meeting spaces.

Setu can also be used in hospitality settings, such as corporate rooms in hotels where individuals attend long training sessions or formal meetings.

The chairs can be specified in a range of colours and finishes to fit seamlessly into established interior design schemes.

Herman Miller and Studio 7.5’s partnership began with the launch of Mirra in 2003. Studio 7.5’s co-founders Burkhard Schmitz and Carola Zwick launched the practice in Berlin in 1992 and they say their work is informed by US designers Ray and Charles Eames.

To view more of Herman Miller’s products, visit its website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Herman Miller as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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