Uncomfortable Chairs are Ancient and you deserve a pillow.

Ever sit in an uncomfortable chair and wonder why it was even produced?  This is the obituary of uncomfortable design, be it Industrial, Interior, or Graphic Design. Nonetheless uncomfortable chair design has perished, it has slipped between the floorboards of high-rise apartment buildings, it has faded out with craftsmanship and should finally be slain by the assembly line and the informed.

• Origins of chairs as we know them today. Chairs through time represent craftsmanship, culture, tools, status, and lifestyle. 
  
  
  
  
  The first and oldest chair that one can view in art comes from the Sumerian city of Ur (in modern day Iraq). For those history buffs, Ur was a costal city with relics about 5,800 to 8,500 years old. From the ruins of Ur is an illuminating piece called the “The Standard of Ur.”  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Notice the seated figures. (I should note that perspective comes during the Renaissance and thus four chair legs are represented like the domesticated cattle).
  
  
  Later examples come from The Giza in Egypt.
  
  (photo soure: TourEgypt.net)
  
  
  The “Chair of Hetepheres” would blend with any gold interior in a modern setting. Yet compare this royal chair to those found
  in your living room and you will feel like a Queen of Egypt.
  
  
  Why do we still have chairs that feel rooted in antiquity instead of the overstuffed French royalty?
  
  
   Industrialism!
  
  
   A designer that embodies industrialism is Michael Thonet.
  
  
  
  (photo source:  smow)
  
  
  His bentwood technique enable chairs to be mass produced GLOBALLY! (http://www.thonet.de/en/history-of-a-furniture-brand.html). A classic is his Thonet 214, which just celebrated 150 years. 
  
  
  Hardly batting an eye the assembly line replaced wood furniture with metal. Metal in chairs is a luxury of the late 1920s to present. For those interested in the complexities of tubular steel check out 
  Timken's great introduction. In furniture design metal raised the bar of simple and elegant construction, stunning examples of the modern era such as Mies van der Rohe's design of 1927.
  
  
  
   (photo source: Thonet) 
  
  
  Just about the only combinations of the industrial age, the study of ergonomics, and comfortable cushioning are chairs like these. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Indeed, these are the thrones of the 21st Century!
  
  
  Enjoy the fruits of your ancestors labor.