Rico's Week with the Generation Chair, Day One

In the realm of ergonomic task seating, the Aeron was first, a groundbreaking chair in both design and comfort. Following on its heels was a host of chairs that mimicked the design and couldn’t touch the comfort. But recently, with the Embody’s advent and the quality chairs produced by Steelcase and Humanscale, the discomfort of the consumer can be alleviated in any number of ways by any number of contenders. If you’re a fan of being able to sit in the best position possible for your body and for comfort, you have choices. But what if you don’t want to sit still, with your feet flat on the ground and your arms at a 90 degree angle, and your back straight? What if you move a lot, or need to use the same chair to task and to collaborate? What if you (gasp) like to sit crooked? This week I’m testing the Generation chair by Knoll, created with just such needs in mind. The one I’m sitting in has a Lemongrass colored seat and back and a polished aluminum base and frame. It’s the kind of color that would look horrible in my parents’ house and super cool in my friend’s condo. The basic adjustments of this chair are the levers built into each armrest for up and down movement, a paddle built into each side of the seat’s underside (left to adjust seat pan depth, right to adjust seat height), and a lever at the right rear of the seat to adjust degree of tilt. The tilt adjustment has three settings: Slacker Recline, Moderately Relaxed, and No Recline for You. The rubber back has a ton of flex to it, so each of those positions incorporates give, and stretching is easy and even encouraged by the back’s flexibility. Even though it doesn’t have any additional lumbar support, I don’t feel like the chair is lacking in that area as I sit in it. We’ll see how the week goes!