Talk is Cheap

08 Jun 2009

With over 90% of communication occurring non-verbally, the ability for a work environment to promote movement, gesture and interaction is critical to business success. Formway’s research into workplace behaviour has resulted in an innovative approach that heralds a step change in work chair design.

Called BE, the chair will be unveiled at the NeoCon trade show in Chicago in mid June and released in New Zealand and Australia in September. In the United States the chair has been licensed to leading global furniture company Knoll Inc and will be sold under the name Generation by Knoll.

US magazines Fast Company, Wired and TIME Style and Design have given the chair a strong endorsement for its comfort, flexibility, striking design, durability and sustainability. And, says Wired writer Maren Jinnett:

“After a week of sitting in [the chair], our regular chair actually felt so confining, so unable to move as we moved and in the way we wanted to, that it was almost like getting back into a straightjacket.”

Footage of the chair on you tube is also proving popular with viewers.

Kent Parker, Lead Designer for the BE chair, says the team observed that, regardless of the chair people were sitting on, they continuously attempted to change postures:

“Many common ways of sitting have previously been viewed as unconventional, even incorrect, but they are in fact natural, subconscious human movements used to enhance comfort, communication and self expression.”

Media Release