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Milan Design Week 09 Preview: Chairs for the Dysfunctional by Alice Wang

By Core Jr - March 19, 2009

in Object Culture | Milan09

Alice Wang's latest project, to debut in Milan next month, questions how you sit. Do you sit sideways? Do you shake your leg? And worst of all, do you have gas?

Silent Farter
Those with excess gas in their abdomen can find it difficult to hold it in sometimes, even at important times such as formal dinner gatherings or meetings. Quietly letting the gas out may be the solution, but although the sound may be muted, the scent is still present. It can often cause misunderstanding and unnecessary embarrassment for the innocent others. This chair announces who the gas is from by amplifying the silent fart exhausted.

Constant Shaker Researchers believe these unconscious muscle movements may be caused by a chemical produced in our brain to trigger additional calories to be burnt. This chair calculates the amount of calories burnt when one fidgets or shakes their leg when sitting down.

>>View all Core77 Milan Design Week 09 Coverage

Click below to see the Equality Seeker + Skilled Tilter!

Equality Seeker
Researches show that taller people are more likely to be successful in life. This may well be part of the nature's natural selection process, however, can products help strive against such theories? In order for shorter people to still have a chance of survival in the modern day society, these chairs are specially designed so everyone is equal at the table. The taller one is, the shorter their chair should be. Each chair can be customized so everyone sits at the world average sitting height of 140cm.

Skilled Tilter
This chair is specially designed for people who tilt their chairs. It has a spirit leveler attached to the side allowing one to measure how balanced one is.

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trendoffice

15 years ago

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There is an abundance of info on this Milan Design Week and lots of interesting and valuable designs. I am wondering - why exactly this gains so much attention? I do agree that 9 year old boys will go crazy for this, but we are expected to act like mature adults. Especially when everybody is complaining about 'current economic crisis.'
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Ralph

15 years ago

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In today's rapidly deteriorating ecological (and of late, economic-) climate, aren't time and resources better spent on real issues than gimmicky, functionless, socially-commenting art-furniture? It saddens me that stuff like this is labeled 'design'. But then I suppose everyone has a different definition of the term...
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a.e.

15 years ago

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A fart Amplifier? Brilliant.
9 year old boys will go crazy for this!
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herc

15 years ago

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Perhaps a kinder way to tackle the issue of dinner-table flatulence would be to propose chairs with a carbon-filled cushion.... The carbon would filter and neutralize any silent emissions before they could reach innocent bystanders. Thus, embarrassment is avoided and the meeting or formal dining occasion remains uninterrupted. :op
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