The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body, and Design

The context of my reading this book is probably important to my review.Through the [...] I am studying Chairs for the next two years. I'm doing this because I wanted to study something simple, tangible, and ubiquitous. At the beginning of my study, this description seemed to fit chairs. Currently I'm a couple of months into my study and very much have an amateur's perspective on the content and style of Cranz's work.I really enjoyed reading the book. I particularly enjoyed the content surrounding the history of chairs. I found myself taking notes but I soon stopped because I was essentially copying what Cranz wrote, word for word. There is a lot of material referenced in there (extensive footnotes and bibliography) that I will look back on for my continued studies.I read the 2nd half of the book considerably more quickly than I read the first part. I think this was A. because I was frustrated by how long it was taking me to take notes AND read the book, but B. I sensed that I would be reading considerably more about ergonomics and the implications of our chair use down the line, so I didn't want to spend too much time memorizing all of the little details of Cranz's opinion. I also got the sense that a lot of the 2nd half was laced with her opinion. That's fine as long as you accept it for what it is. Her opinion may very well be accurate, but I'll have to read a bunch more to verify.In short, I thought this book was a nice, comprehensive, thought-provoking primer to learning more about chairs. It has certainly shaped the beginning of my studies in that I'm now interested both in "chairs as objects of design" and "chairs as potentially dangerous constructs". Anyone is welcome to follow me as I continue my study at [...]One random thing: I enjoyed some of the random quotes at the beginnings of different chapters.

Fascinating book. The historical section is truly great. It's very interesting to know how and why the chair mindset entered our collective brain. The design bits are quite interesting, as well. I find that my chair-sitting activities are far less unpleasant now. After that, things get a bit questionable. The later parts of the book offer ideas on how to free yourself from the horrors of chair sitting. At home, these suggestions work, but I know of ZERO industries where some of these ideas would work. Finding ways to avoid chairs is one thing, but there are limits. The one useful workplace application of the "chair free zone" philosophy is standing desks. I swear by the concept, and most folks who have used mine now have one in their office. It may not be a perfect book, but there are many good points, so I highly recommend it. It certainly gets a person thinking about something they have probably never thought about before.

This was a really cool book! I discovered the title while doing a search for "active sitting," and Ms. Cranz provides an incredibly detailed history of the chair in Western culture, its ergonomic shortcomings, and some potential remedies for the problems that arise from working and learning in environments that demand long periods of chair-sitting.

I'm sick of our society suffering from bad backs and not doing anything about it. READ THIS BOOK

Purchased for a client.

I was under the impression that sitting on a recliner was for sloths, and rockers were for grandmas. Cranz offers excellent insights into seating using the Alexander Technique as well.

it's a book i needed for studio and it got here in a timely fashion.

Purchased as a gift, recipient was very pleased.

happy with purchase, either theoretical or technical very good book

Go on, buy it - you'll love this book. Probably the strangest book purchase I've made ever, but one of the most enjoyable and interesting reads ever, too. You spend so much of your life sitting in a chair, yet so little time thinking about what your doing, or what you're doing it in. You will never, ever look at a chair in the same way again - and although it's not Cranz's purpose, you will probably never make a bad chair-buying decision again. I've just thrown away a very posh furniture catalogue, dismissing every chair on the basis of what I've learned from this book.

Maybe the most incisive book I've read. Whether interested in design, sociology, comfort or architecture this is an incredibly engaging and revealing book. It's inspiring how taking a single, everyday object that billions use each day and applying some critical thinking can reveal not only so much about the object, it's alternatives, but the folly of everday practice and received wisdom. You'll never look at a chair again the same, but you'll never look at any object or practice again without thinking about it either.

Fascinating and thought provoking. Wide-ranging. More importantly - highlighting the problem of how we sit - it's a call for a revolution. Every designer, architect, anyone who buys chairs for schools etc, the general public can learn something useful.

Good book.