Swing Ao 凳子 by Takusei Kajitani is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award 银奖 in 家具设计 Competition Category.

银家具· 2022

Swing Ao 凳子

by Takusei Kajitani

Client: Consentable

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 家具 Category

31,710

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #135261

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Swing Ao 凳子

大多数传统椅子的设计理念是，尽管人体被设计为可以移动，但坐是一种静态状态。 Swing Ao具有张力结构，可以让座椅随着就座者骨盆的运动而自由移动。这会促进一种漂浮感以及骨盆、脊柱和周围肌肉的运动，激活身体的功能，就像玩小秋千一样。此外，它还可以用作固定凳，座面呈 8 度角，以保持健康的姿势和拉长的脊柱。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Swing Ao 凳子是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Swing Ao 凳子将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Swing Ao 凳子是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

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.
Team Members: Ao Designer: Yoh Miyachi
Craftsman: Ryosuke Tanaka
Image Credits: Image #1-5: Photographer Yoko Inoue, Variations, 2022.