#1

PEOPLE

BODIES

should
accomodate

CHAIRS
Cant sit upright

Accustomed to being
Supported by chairback

UNSTABLE

More frequently
That fail to offer that flexibility
Can harm our BODIES

Many layers that compromise

the torso get weakened

We lean back

WE NEED SUPPORT EVEN MORE

CHAIR
Sitting is hard work
(?)

Sitting strains :
Spinal column
Back muscles
Lower back nervous
Diaphragm

Part of the immediate work environment

Sit well or badly: the pressure

on spinal discs is 30% greater
than standing

Conclusion:
Human werent created to sit

 Holding any posture for long periods of time is the

ultimate problem
Back support -> depends on culture (point od view)
No matter what its angle (90o /110o) people lean
forward over their tasks
Flat backrest worse than no backrest at all
People rounded their backs regardless of the type of
backrest
Support >< comfort
Comfort
=> support

 Sensation of comfort -> memory

The number of body parts experiencing discomfort
is more important than the intensity of the
discomfort
People seem to respond more to their ideas about
comfort than to their actual physical experiencing
of it
Comfortable -> vary from one historical era to
another
Comfort & productivity -> relationship : elusive
example: HALO EFFECT -> if workers think that
management cares about their comfort,
their

Chapter 4
A Body-Mind Perspective (Somatic)
The integrated body-mind perspective (somatic)
could expand and improve the current ergonomic
approach to chair design
Somatic:
Relationship between body and intellectual
thought, cultural belief, individual feeling and
will
Involves the whole human being: interactions of
posture, movement, emotion, self-concept, and
cultural values

Somatics and the Alexander

Technique
Alexander
Technique
Solusi: selanjutnya
saat

Alexander
AlexanderProblem
mengabaikan postur

Alexander main piano lagi, dia

harus aware sama postur tubuh
dia, teknik tsb ia ajarkan pd
orang lain, spt musisi, dancer,
singer, dll

Somatic
Reeducatio
n

SOLVED

tubuh dia ketika dia main piano,

udah berlangsung bertahun, tp
dia mengabaikan rasa sakit di
lengan kanan atasnya sehingga
lama kelamaan keadaannya
memburuk

Somatic
Problem

Somatic Principles and Chair

Design
1) Philosophical ideas about the human body;
2) ideas about anatomy; and
3) ideas about psycho-physical processes
The implication of this systematic viewpoint
for chair design is:
you should not focus exclusively on one
part, you have to go through the whole
system