Bronze Furniture Design · 2025
Active Office Chair
by Yun Li
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Ziel Home Furnishing Technology Co., Ltd.,
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 13,256
- Verification code DAC8E9C868 · Verify this award
About Active Office Chair
Active is an office chair designed to reduce sedentary work. The chair has two round cushions. The low cushion sets a seat height slightly above conventional chairs, which helps the user keep an upright sitting position. The high cushion is set at bar height, so the same chair supports working while standing. A footrest allows the legs to relax during standing work. The armrests support simple stretches and help the user rise after long periods. The frame is made of bent hollow iron tubes with fabric and foam, and the chairs can be stacked to save space.
Ziel Home Furnishing Technology Co., Ltd's Active Office Chair engages contemporary seating design through a synthesis of structural transparency and ergonomic softness, demonstrating how tubular steel cantilever construction—a typology with distinguished modernist lineage extending through Bauhaus experimentation and mid-century rationalist furniture—can be reinterpreted through color, proportion, and detail refinement to address present-day workspace needs. The design deploys continuous tubular steel framework in a Z-configuration cantilever that eliminates rear legs, creating visual and physical lightness while the structural logic remains legibly expressed, a gesture toward material honesty and tectonic clarity that connects the work to functionalist design philosophy even as the saturated warm coral-peachy-orange finish and cylindrical upholstered elements introduce expressive personality that tempers industrial austerity with psychological approachability. The compositional strategy presents two specimens in oblique arrangement against neutral void, a presentation mode that foregrounds formal relationships and invites comparison of proportional refinement, scale relationships, and structural detail while the cantilever geometry creates diagonal vectors that activate the picture plane with dynamic visual momentum countered by the stabilizing horizontality of seat and backrest cylinders. The chromatic decision to employ near-monochromatic warmth across both textile and metal components demonstrates chromatic discipline and unity, the peachy-orange hue functioning symbolically to project energy, optimism, and contemporary sensibility while the singular color application allows form and structure to command primary attention without chromatic distraction or decorative overlay, suggesting design confidence in the strength of proportional relationships and geometric clarity. The cylindrical cushioning elements—seemingly fabric or synthetic leather-wrapped foam—provide ergonomic accommodation while maintaining geometric purity through uniform diameter and parallel alignment, their roller-like appearance perhaps suggesting adjustability or simply creating visual rhythm through repetition and modularity. The compact footprint and apparent stackability suggested by the form imply consideration for spatial efficiency and flexible deployment across residential, hospitality, or commercial workspace contexts, addressing practical concerns of storage and adaptability alongside aesthetic expression. The integration of armrests through continuation of the tubular frame geometry rather than applied appendages demonstrates formal economy and structural integration, each element serving multiple functions in a design language that values efficiency and elegance. One might observe how this design invites contemplation of the enduring relevance of cantilever seating typology, questioning how historical modernist ambitions toward democratic design, material innovation, and functional beauty continue to inform contemporary furniture practice, and considering whether bold color application and refined proportion can refresh familiar structural strategies for new audiences seeking both visual warmth and practical performance in their environments.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Active is a sedentary prevention chair with two cushions, high and low, that allows the user to work either sitting or standing.At the same time, the cushions and armrests allow for simple exercises and stretches to ease the discomfort of sitting for long periods of time.Its unique bending angle allows the chairs to be stacked together in an office environment, saving space.Multi-coloured options to add a splash of colour in the office environment.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Product Dimensions:Width 540 mm x Depth 400 mm x Height 780 mm
- Tags
- Office chair, Multifunctional, Light exercise, Prevention of occupational diseases, Health, Removable, Stackable
- Production Technology
- The main materials for the seat are hollow iron tubes, fabric and foam.The iron pipe is formed by bending and users only need 8 screws for installation.
- Design Challenge
- Balancing the ergonomics of the seat with the user's habits in an office setting was one of the challenges of the concept.The sitting height is currently set higher than conventional seats to ensure that the user can maintain a relatively upright sitting position.
- Project Duration
- The project started in Shenzhen in March 2024 and completed in Shenzhen in August 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The seat has two round cushions.With a low cushion for seat height, users can work in a healthy sitting position.The seat is equipped with armrests, allowing for simple movements and assistance in getting up when sitting for long periods of time.The high cushion is barstool height, allowing users to work in a standing position.A footrest is set on the bottom of the seat, so you can relax your legs when standing up to work.The switching of movements allows the sedentary body to move in order to reduce sedentary time.
- Research
- Occupational diseases caused by sedentary behaviour are a common health problem that is widely studied and discussed.The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state,that prolonged sedentary behaviour is associated with a wide range of health problems, including obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.Promote the reduction of sedentary time through increased activity time, simple activities, and standing offices to prevent occupational diseases caused by sedentary behaviour.
- Inspiration
- In the workplace, sedentary behaviour has become the norm, bringing about a series of occupational diseases as a result of maintaining the same posture for long periods of time.How to avoid being sedentary became the subject of our research.
- Patents
- China Patent Application Number:202430611547X
Colors of Active Office Chair
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