Swing Ao Stool

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Swing is designed with a tension structure that allows the seat to move freely in conjunction with the movement of the sitter's pelvis. As a result, you can enjoy a floating sensation, and it promotes the movement of the pelvis, spine, and surrounding muscles, thereby activating your body's functions like playing on a small swing. And you can also sit on it as a regular stool with an 8-degree angle seat to maintain a healthy posture that prevents hunching over.

Dimensions & Packaging

Diameter 300mm x Height 450mm, made of solid black cherry wood with indigo-dyed finish collaborated with Ao team in Tokyo. The suspension material is 3mm rope for dinghy. The seat is upholstered with artificial leather over 60mm thick urethane cushion.

Tags

Athlete, Health, Body balance, Stool, Chair, Swing, Dynamic, Tensegrity, Tension

Production Technology

Swing consists of an upper seat structure, a lower leg structure, and a suspension material that connects both of them. A plurality of suspension materials connected to the leg structure suspend a rod extending downward from the seat structure. The rod of the seat structure passes through a hole arranged in the center of the top panel of the leg structure. The diameter of the hole in the leg structure is larger than the diameter of the rod in the seat structure, and the user can move the seat freely within the difference in diameters.

Design Challenge

First of all, I wondered if it would be possible to develop a chair that would benefit athletes and stimulate their athletic sense. And I began to study body manipulation and body structure, then became interested in the changes in body structure during the process of human evolution, or the functional significance of the missing tail. At that time, I realized that the sense of balance in the body is very important for athletes. And the image of Swing was coming to me.

Research

I referred to The Alexander Technique For Musicians by Peter Buckoke for information on how to use the human body. In particular, I focused on the importance of the sense of balance that we unconsciously have.
For the design of the suspension structure, I took a hint from Tensegrity by Buckminster Fuller.

Inspiration

The most chair have been designed on the idea that sitting is a static movement despite the human body is designed to move. It forces our body to stay rigid for a long time, accelerating our body's dis-activation. Swing is designed for solving this problem with a tension structure that allows the seat to move freely in conjunction with the movement of the sitter's pelvis like a small swing. You can enjoy a floating sensation with activating your body's functions with this stool.

Project Duration

Swing project started as The Chair for Athlete project in Tokyo in April 2021, and the initial model of Swing was completed in November 2021.

Operation Flow

This is a stool that can be used in two sitting modes: dynamic and static.When sitting dynamically, you sit in such a way that the rod extending under the seat touches the hole for penetration in the base parts as little as possible, and move your pelvis, hip joints, and spine to enjoy the swing of the seat. Enjoy dynamic sitting when you want to sit back or change your mind.When sitting statically, sit leaning forward so that the rod extending under the seat touches the hole. You can sit in a straight posture because the seat is fixed at an angle of about 8 degrees.

Patents

Design registration pending. Takusei Kajitani. Certificate of Design Registration, Japan Patent Office.

Image Credits

Image #1-5: Photographer Yoko Inoue, Variations, 2022.