25 Exotic Chair Designs & Even More Strange Facts About Them

Q: When Did Ergonomic Chairs Become Popular

Not Until the 1970's In the early 1970s, designers of the time took a fancy towards office furniture and made strides in development of healthy workstations. They also made advancements from the invention of new materials via groundbreaking manufacturing processes.

Chairs are one of the oldest pieces of furniture and have been used since the beginning of civil society. Over the years there have some renditions of crossed over from a piece of art.

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Strange & Exotic Chairs of The World

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The top 25 strange chair designs

Chairs are one of the oldest pieces of furniture and have been in use since the beginning of civil society.

Over the years there have some renditions of crossed over from a piece of art. Below are few chair designs you never knew existed.

1| The Seatub Chair by Ki Kim

The artist behind this chair design got this idea from relaxing in their tub, or at least I’d like to think that was the origin to this Seat-tub.

Seatub | Unusual Chairs — Image Provided By Designboom

2| The Pencil Chair by Anon Pairot

The artist behind this chair design is from Thailand and used hundreds of pencil to complete this piece of furniture.

Pencil Chair 'Back' | Unsual Chair Designs — Image Provided by Anon Pairot

3| The Fish Rocking Chair by Tristian Coochrane

The artist behind this chair design wanted to make a detailed physique of an Octopus while making a comfortable chair.

Fishing Rocking Chair | Unusual Chairs — Image Provided Tristan Cochrane

4| The Tunnel Chair by Noga Berman

The artist behind this chair design must have tapped into their childish side to come with this creative chair.

It reminds me of a cat toy and does not look durable, but it’s creative.

25 Exotic Chair Designs & Even More Strange Facts About Them 3 — Image Provided By Nogaberman

5| The Empty Chair by Maarten Baas

The artist behind this chair designs this chair to send a political message; which was the support of Amnesty in the ongoing battle, that is freedom of expression?

6| The Shopping Cart Lounger by Mike Bouchet

The artist behind this chair design transforms a common shopping cart to a lounge chair!

Shopping Cart Lounge Chair | Unusual Chairs — Image Provided By Designboom

7| The Beautiful Bloom Chair by Kenneth Cobonpue

The most delicate of flowers, the blossom inspired the artist behind this chair design. This chair was handmade and is available in 8 colors.

The Bloom Chair | Unusal Chairs — Image Provided By KENNETH COBONPUE

8| The Octopus Chair by Maximo Riera

The artist behind this chair design wanted to make a detailed physique of an octopus while making a comfortable chair.

Octopus Chair | Unsual Chair Designs — Designer: Maximo Riera , Image Provided by deMilked

9| Him & Hers Chair By Fabio Novembre

The Panton Chair inspired the artist behind this chair design and considers it an evolution from the original.

Chair Casamania His & Her Variant | Unusual Chairs — Image Provided by Fabio Novembre

Chair Casamania His Variant | Unusual Chairs — Casamania **His** Chair

Chair Casamania Her Variant | Unusual Chairs — Casamania **Her** Chair

10| The “Loop” Chair With A Rug By Sophie De Vocht

It based the artist behind this design out of Italy from the furniture company “Casamania”.

It kinda looks like a hybrid rug-chair and is supported by a metal structure, that is topped with oversized tightly woven yarn. The Perfect Reading Chair!

The Loop Chair | Unuasal Chair — Image Provided by Designmilk

11| The Miliped Chair by Michael Samoriz

Kinda looks like a bottom dwelling sea creature. The artist behind this chair design disclosed that his inspiration was a mixture of “symbiosis of cyberpunk and bionics” and and a pinch of “Squiddy” from The Matrix trilogy.

25 Exotic Chair Designs & Even More Strange Facts About Them 6 — Image Provided by design-milk

12| Recycled Skateboard Stool by Deckstool

Solidly created using discard broken skateboards, making every piece one-of-a-kind.

Instead of landing up in a landfill, the folks over at Deckstool use their woodworking techniques to assemble a together piece of art you can sit on!

Recycled Skateboard Seating — Image Provided by deckstool

13| The Bahia Chair By 20age

Reupholstered in yellow and green checked cotton on yellow velvet cord, pulled together by turquoise buttons.

There 5000 Brazilian ribbons placed on the back. According to the creator of this chair, 20age says they consider these ribbons a lucky charm in Brazil.

The Bahia Chiar by 20age — Images Provided By Retail Design Blog

14| The Pink Chair By Vladimir Tsesler

How often do you see a three-legged chair aesthetically pleasing as The Pink Chair?

Its clever design oozes with possess and is so simple yet genius.

Although The Pink Chair sits more towards the petite sitters side, it could be the centerpiece in the right room.

$The Pink Chair \ The Purple Chair$

15| The UFO Chair By MaviMATT

Reconsidering chair design, the UFO-Shaped rocking chair is something out of this world.

The Italian design company IT ONEOFF has made a rocking chair that can swivel 360° degrees, giving the sitter a wide viewing angle with the feeling they might be inside a flying saucer ship.

UFO-Rocking-Chair

16| The Proust Geometrica By Alessandro Mendini

Created in 1978, this armchair is akin with Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The perfect combination of comfort and confusion, the iconic Alessandro Mendini handcrafted it for the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara.

Proust Geometrica Chair — Image Provided By Cappellini

17| The Wiggle Chair By Frank Gehry

Created back in the 1970s, this chair resembles half cooked pasta or some food.

The squiggle sculpture was a part of the ‘Easy Edges’ series and is actually just as comfortable as they are pieces of art.

The Wiggle Chair — Image Provided By Virtra

18| The Tube Chair By Joe Colombo

Permanently living within the collections of both the MoMa & Triennale in Milan is no small feat for a piece of furniture.

The Tube was created in 1969 and is a cross between giant paint rollers & lounge chair.

Since this chair is near priceless, recreating it would be a nifty DIY project (Just Saying¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

The Tube Chair by Joe Colombo — Image Provided By Cappellini

19| The Slice Chair By Mathias Bengtsson

The designer behind this chair constructed it entirely from layers of plywood and bearing a fractal organic shape similar to rock formations you can find in the badlands of Utah.

20| The MT3 Rocker By Ron Alrad

Artist Ron Alrad made the large hole in the middle of this chair through a rotational molding and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

The MT3 rocking chair is put together using a polyethylene mono-bloc with a sand white (RAL 1013) exterior paint job and the choice between red,, black, violet, or lilac colored interior.

The MT3 Rocker By Ron Alrad — Image Provided By 1stdibs

21| The Affinity Chair Ben Alun-Jones

Infinity mirrors may trend on your social media in recent times, but did you see a mirror you can sit on?

This chair is nearly invisible in certain lighting from afar but revels hidden depths closer you come to sitting on it.

The Affinity Chair — Image Provided By Ben Alun-Jones

22| The The Shape-Shifting Ollie Chair

It looks like a drying board at first, but it’s actually a shape shifting piece of furniture.

The chair is a space saving wooden chair that retracts within seconds and even has lumbar support.

The Shape Shifting Ollie Chair — Image Provided By RockPaperRobot

23| The Nest Chair By Seyhan Ozdemir and Sefer Caglar

Who would have thought sitting in a cage could every be so cozy?

The Nest Chair resembles a birdcage and its high back rest makes for some great privacy.

Unlike the other exotic entries on the list, this chair can blend in nicely to an array of home decor.

24| The Timeout Stool By Anonymous

Nobody can pinpoint the origins of the hour-glass time-out-stool, but it can found on an array of artist markets and big box stores.

Besides, being sat on this chair has another functionality.. a timer.

When your child or loved one is acting up, instead of flipping out, tell them to flip the stool and think about what they’ve done to upset you.

25| The Ofo ‘Hollow’ Chair

Who doesn’t love multi-use furniture, they’re genius?

Combining a book shelf with an armchair, the OFO is not your granny’s story time chair!

How Were Chairs Before The Industrial Age?

Chairs before the industrial revolution took a skilled carpenter to make and were more expensive.

It was before planned obsolescence so chairs were built to last.

Chairs in the Ancient Egyptian Times

The oldest documented use of chairs goes back to 5,000 years.

The Egyptians used Ebony and African Black wood in the construction of their furniture.

Since the natural wood available was to poor in quality for making chairs.

The Egyptians used to import their wood nearby regions known today as Turkey, Lebanon, & Syria.

Chairs in the Roman Times

At this point in history, chairs were still hard to make and difficult to come by.

The sella was today’s version of a chair and became the most widely used piece of furniture to sit in because of its portability.

The Curule Seat was another notable chair of the time and was reserved only for the imperirum (Authorized Government People).

Chairs in the Medieval Times

They recorded cushions to be used in efforts to ease the hardness of the wooden chairs and stools.

Both by the poor and rich, they were used in every home.

They made cushions during the Medieval period in a variety of patterns and colors depending on what materials were available.

Skipping Ahead To Chairs As We Know Them…

The Centripetal Spring Armchair, The first of its Kind

1849 in Upstate New York, Thomas E. Warren’s invention of the Centripetal Spring Armchair is the earliest glimpse of the office chair were familiar with today.

Initially displayed at London’s Great Exhibition as the most advanced chair for its time that included nearly all of today features other than lumbar support.

It was never the less received little success outside the U.S. due to the stigma of chairs with chairs featuring backrest.

The Swivel Chair is Older than America, Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Randolph Co-invented the Swivel Chair

The pair originally modded a Windsor chair. Tearing apart the chair and putting it bat together with the addition of a central iron spindle.

This separated top half from bottom and enabled swiveling to happen.

They actually believed this type of chair to be sat in while Jefferson was signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Charles Darwin First use wheels on his work chair

We documented the father of evolution to be the first to implement casters on the legs of an office chair.

He did this to make it easier to move around his laboratory.

This trend caught on quickly as other scientist, engineers, and doctors equipped caster wheels on their chairs to be more efficient within the workspace.

Nissan Created The World’s First “Intelligent Parking Chair”

In 2016, the international car maker, Nisan unveiled their self parking office chairs to keep workspaces clutter-free.

It was more of a prank than a mission as the Okamura chair was equipped with a mortar and self-driving AI software.

Nevertheless, it was still a first in the history of chairs.

Rolls-Royecs Shows Off Zero Gravity Chair “The Elysium”

A more luxurious car manufacture, Roles-Troyes had the most technologically advanced designers chair on display at their dealerships.

The Elysium R from David Hugh Ltd. is notable for being the first designer’s chair to support zero gravity sitting.

This chair uses premium they upholster anodized pure aluminum armrest and with Anilin leather, the support frame is actual gold!

This sitting experience this is worth an astounding $26,000 (~£23,000) to have in your home.

Most Expensive Chairs List

This list consists of antiques, historic chairs with famous stories, or the top of the line in modern ergonomics.

These 25 chairs are a bit of everything, but mostly comprise works of art. There may be chairs out there that I did not list and apologize in advance.

#	Name of Chair	Price
25	EAMES SOFT PAD EXECUTIVE CHAIR	$2,559
24	SPECTRUM WEST WORK CHAIR	$2,650
23	ARPER ASTON EXECUTIVE CHAIR	$3,695
22	EAMES EXECUTIVE WORK CHAIR	$4,692
21	VITRA GRAND EXECTUIVE CHAIR LOWBACK CHAIR	$5,240
21.5	VITRA SKAPE HIGHBACK CHAIR	$6,825
20	WEGNER SWIVEL CHAIR	$12,500
19	G PLAN 6250 CHAIR	$16,000
18	ELYSIUM R BY DAVID HUGH LTD	$26,000
17	JK ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER CHAIR	$29,117
16	CAMPANA BROTHERS BOLOTAS CHAIR	$38,000
15	MARTIN BAKER MK3 EJECTION SEAT CHAIR	$39,995
14	FROM THE GLITTER BY KANG MYUNG SUN	$50,000
13	GETSUEN DIAMOND ARMCHAIR	$67,000
12	THE SILHOUETTE CHAIR	$78,128
11	LIMITED EDITION BANQUETED CHAIR	$85,000
10	THE DARBOUX CHAIR	$85,500
9	THE RIEMANN GILT BRONZE CHAIR	$90,000
8	THE ONYX CHAIR	$140,000
7	KENNEDY CABINET CHAIR	$146,500
6	PLUMEBLANCHE DIAMOND ENCRUSTED	$187,000
5	Z-CHAIR BY ZAHA HADID	$204,000
4	THE SKULL CHAIR	$500,000
3	PININFARINA’S ARESLINE XTEN CHAIR	$1,500,000
2	MARC NEWSON LOCKHEED LOUNGE CHAIR	$2,900,000
1	THE DRAGON'S CHAIR	$28,341,909

Interested in learning more about each chair and their unique features? We fully cover why these 25 chairs are so expensive.

Famous Chairs From Movies & TV Shows

Most office chairs are designed for a medium-sized body type and have neglected a not so small segment of the market; petite sitters. This has made it difficult for women and short men alike to find a chair that fits proportionately.

Chair Name	Appeared In	Year (s)
The Captains Chair	Startrek	1966-1969
Djin Chair	2001: A Space Odyssey	1968
The Emperor's Throne	Starwars	1980-1983
Chairy	Pee-Wee's Playhouse	1986-1991
The Ovalia Egg Chair	Men In Black	1997
The Red Letaher Wing-back	The Matrix	1999
The Hot Seat	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	1999-Present
Throne of Gondor	Lord of The Rings	2001-2003
Dumbledores Chair	Harry Potter	2001-2011
Dr. Evil Motorized Chair	Austin Powers In Goldmember	2002
Hover Chair	Wall-E	2008
Odins Chair	Marvel, Thor	2011
Dr. Xaviers Floating Chair	X-Men Days of Futures Past	2014
Anthro Verte Flexible Highback	Batman VS Superman	2016
The Iron Throne	Game of Thrones	2011-2019

Interested in what other famous chairs in pop-culture?

We get deeper into the three above and a dozen more such as the Iron Throne or Dr. Xavier’s levitating chair.

More Famous Chairs

TIL strange facts about chairs

Few cherish the advancement in office chairs over the past couple centuries.

That’s all gonna change after reading what’s below… I’m Here to share with you some of my favorite chairs tidbits.

Is Sitting really the new smoking?

1. The National Post covered a story about the widespread epidemic of sedentary sitting. They discovered that the average office worker sits around 10 hours a day, which accumulates on average up to 17,000 hours of sitting each year.

So they link sedentary lifestyle to higher rates of an array of illnesses. Our metabolism slows down up to 90% upon 30 minutes of sitting a simple way to stop this from happening is taking frequent breaks.

2. Harry Jennings invented and introduced the first folding wheelchair in 1932.

- Jennings created it for a paraplegic friend named Herbert Everest. The two opened a wheelchair business, “Everest & Jennings” which eventually became a wheel chair monopoly and hit with anti-trust lawsuits.

3. Since 1950, there has been a 83% rise of sedentary jobs in the United States.

Over half of the American workforce (54%) would like a better ergonomic office chair according to Work Design: Occupation Ergonomics by Stephen Konz.

4. The Proportion of discarded office chairs in the UK that end up destroyed for materials or dumped in landfills each year

Every year in the UK, approximately 295,000 office chairs (3,534 tonnes) get reused in some form or another. Unfortunately, this only amounts to about 14% of all office chairs nearing the end of their usability. The other 86% will recycle, energy recovery, or landfill. The U.S. office furniture market is expected to reach a value of 14.3 billion dollars by 2025.

5. Researchers publishing in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found on average the calories burned, sitting about 80 calories/hour and standing about 88 calories/hour.

6. In 2009, they hosted the first office chair racing tournament in Bad Koenig Zell, 70 participants. Japan has also joined the circuit and a more competitive level of fair play.

7. Ergonomic Office Chairs were not popular until the early 1970s.

In the early seventies, the designers of the time took a fancy towards office furniture and made strides in development of healthy workstations.
They also made advancements from the invention of new materials via groundbreaking manufacturing processes.