{"id":52540,"date":"2021-09-28T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/asia-en\/?p=52540"},"modified":"2023-02-08T21:08:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T10:08:01","slug":"go-beyond-steelcase-karman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/asia-en\/research\/articles\/topics\/design\/go-beyond-steelcase-karman\/","title":{"rendered":"Go Beyond With Steelcase Karman"},"content":{"rendered":"

People were working in new ways before the crisis and, as people became more aware of the need for comfort, the team understood they needed to create a new kind of chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only notice ergonomics when you\u2019re uncomfortable,\u201d notes James Ludwig, vice president of global design and engineering at Steelcase. \u201cBut the best user experience is one you don\u2019t notice. We wanted to design a chair that makes comfort effortless, that responds and moves as you do, that fits all types of bodies. And we wanted to give it a presence that looks great in the home or the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

That vision led to Steelcase Karman, a new approach that goes beyond traditional mesh chairs. Its 21st century design and engineering naturally responds to a body\u2019s movement and weight, providing unparalleled comfort. It is designed to be more comfortable than leading mesh chairs, putting less pressure on your seat and back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Learn how Steelcase Karman’s 21st century design responds to your body\u2019s movement and weight to provide unparalleled comfort.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Explore the Chair<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Beyond Comfort<\/h2>\n

Designing the seat for Steelcase Karman became a primary focus for the team as they worked to create a new level of comfort. \u201cWhen you\u2019re sitting, regardless of what posture you\u2019re in, you\u2019re always in contact with the seat,\u201d Ludwig notes. \u201cPeople talk a lot about back pain, but if you think about it, that pain is often because of your glutes or hamstrings or your core. It\u2019s a systemic issue. That\u2019s why the seat was so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dozens of prototypes and testing culminated in Steelcase Karman\u2019s one-of-a-kind patented hybrid seat that combines an all-new performance textile with integrated cushioning. Instead of a rigid frame that\u2019s used in most mesh chairs, the team innovated a systemic design approach in which the textile is suspended from an ultra-light frame that flexes so it eliminates painful pressure points and puts less pressure on people\u2019s backs and seats.<\/p>\n

\"Steelcase<\/p>\n

\u201cNature has been an inspiration for us throughout the process,\u201d says Steelcase senior principal engineer Nick Deevers. \u201cBoth the seat and back have an organic flexibility that harmonizes with the movement in the lower frame. We were going for a level of fluidity that didn\u2019t exist before. Your body has that fluidity. When you\u2019re in this chair, it follows you. And that\u2019s just like nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beyond Mesh<\/h2>\n

Creating the level of comfort the team wanted with existing mesh materials wasn\u2019t possible. \u201cPeople like the air circulation, lightness and liveliness of mesh,\u201d says Ludwig, \u201cbut we were concerned about the performance. Mesh seats can behave like a hammock where all the weight is in the center. We didn\u2019t want to work with mesh until it could deliver a true performance benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

After countless hours of collaboration and experimentation, the team created a new proprietary performance textile called Intermix, which uses patented Shrinx Technology. They developed an exclusive weave that creates ideal ergonomic support so it never sags or feels stiff. \u201cIntermix is a self supporting textile with spring, rebound and total stability,\u201d says Gordy Peterson, the senior principal engineer, who helped co-create the new textile. \u201cIt distributes your weight evenly over the seat and back, flexing to your movement and fitting the contours of your body perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The combination of Intermix with a flexible frame that eliminates stiff edges means people can comfortably sit any way they want. They can lean or sit sideways and feel less pressure on the seat and back, which isn\u2019t possible with many other mesh chairs.<\/p>\n

\"Steelcase<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at people when they\u2019re working \u2014 they\u2019re not sitting in one perfect posture, they\u2019re moving all over the place,\u201d says Ludwig. \u201cFidgeting is actually not a bad thing. It\u2019s human. It\u2019s ergonomic. A chair may be comfortable for the first few minutes, but what\u2019s comfortable for extended periods of time is unique for each of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIntermix also has a beautiful hand feel,\u201d notes Julie Yonehara, a senior industrial designer at Steelcase. \u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to create something so close to the human body, we needed this to feel comfortable, not abrasive.\u201d The unique weave not only offers comfort and performance but it also allowed the team to create what Yonehara calls \u201ca platform for diversity and expression.\u201d The filaments can be spaced close together to create an opaque version of Intermix, or further apart to create a transparent, more traditional mesh look. Using multiple colors in the weave creates the appearance of a color shift when looking at the chair from different angles. \u201cIt was inspired by athletic performance wear, really highlighting the dynamism of it,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

Steelcase Karman offers an industry-leading color range, with 13 proprietary Intermix colors and a variety of Lux finishes, which makes infinite aesthetic options possible. \u201cWe wanted to go beyond the basic black, white and gray to create styles from monochromatic modern, residential luxury or anything in-between,\u201d says Yonehara. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of choice, but there are also a lot of smart, curated options. We want this chair to fit in everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Beyond Convention<\/h2>\n

Responsible design is integral to the Steelcase design team so Steelcase Karman was designed with the planet and the future in mind. Ludwig, who is a member of the Circular Design Leaders group, advocates a design philosophy \u2014 whether it\u2019s for a chair, building or entire city \u2014 of shifting from complexity to simplicity. \u201cPeople want to experience things that are more intuitive, that incorporate fewer materials and use less resources,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

Steelcase Karman not only uses sustainable materials, it\u2019s also comprised of the least number of components necessary. Because the design approach uses physics to create responsive movement, the team was able to design it at a weight of only 29 pounds \u2013 less than many leading mesh chairs. And yet the engineering of Steelcase Karman makes it incredibly strong. \u201cWe kept saying \u2018what is the simplest thing we can imagine,\u2019\u201d adds Deevers. \u201cNature is efficient, so this needs to be minimal and efficient too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Steelcase<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Learn how Steelcase Karman’s 21st century design responds to your body\u2019s movement and weight to provide unparalleled comfort.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Explore the Chair<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the world spent countless hours on video calls throughout the pandemic, sitting in chairs of various quality, the Steelcase Design Studio already recognized it was time to create the next generation of ergonomic chairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":52542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[14325],"class_list":["post-52540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","industry-workplace","topic-design"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGo Beyond With Steelcase Karman - Steelcase<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/asia-en\/research\/articles\/topics\/design\/go-beyond-steelcase-karman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Go Beyond With Steelcase Karman - 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