Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Check out this featured resource for your guide to tools and how to use them. Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History FREE Shipping on orders over . DetailsChairs by Architects FREE Shipping on orders over . “This is a book to savor in a favorite chair. Maybe you’ll even find the one you’re sitting in reflected in its pages: Now I Sit Me Down is charmingly illustrated with postage-stamp-size images of many of the chairs discussed―all drawn with obvious care by the author.” ―Henry Petroski, The Wall Street Journal“Rybczynski adds another delightful volume to an already impressive shelf of books notable for formidable learning worn lightly and an infectious fascination with the way we craft the built environment . . .
His prose has the engagingly conversational tone of an accomplished lecturer. You needn’t be a student of architecture or design to enjoy Now I Sit Me Down, but you will certainly come away knowing a lot more about the practices and principles that shaped chairs throughout history.” ―Wendy Smith, The Boston GlobeThe book is a slim, insightful introduction to the piece of furniture that shapes not only the way we sit, but the way we live, too.” ―Mark Medley, The Globe and Mail“Whether describing the Egyptian stool or its surprising descendant, the Hollywood director’s chair, Rybczynski elegantly sums up the social trends and technological innovations that have conspired to change the way we sit . . . There is a tactile quality to the writing.” ―Amanda Kolsen Hurley, Architect Magazine"[Rybczynski is] a refreshing voice on the design writing scene.” ―MiChelle Jones, The Dallas Morning News“With wit, scholarship and perspective, Witold Rybczynski's history of chairs and how we use them is a pure delight.” ―Shelf Awareness(starred review)"Who knew sitting was so complicated?
Rybczynski . . . has a special knack for making everyday objects and ideas seem captivating, in part because he places them in a larger historical narrative. In his telling, the chair becomes a seemingly immortal character traveling, Forest Gump-like, through the vicissitudes of our shared history.” ―Doug Childers, Richmond Times-Dispatch“The chair becomes anything but everyday in Rybczynski’s discerning history . . . A worthy addition to Rybczynski’s well-regarded oeuvre, this cultured examination should be read in one’s favorite reading chair.” ―Booklist (starred review)“Rybczynski is totally engaging in this smoothly flowing, sharp, witty narrative―another winner from a top-notch writer on design.” ―Kirkus Reviews“[A] detailed and comprehensive history of the chair . . . .Rybczynski’s relentless curiosity is easily transferred to the reader as he astutely zeroes in on the details of what makes a chair design special or significant. This latest contribution from Rybczynski serves as further evidence that he is one of the best writers on design working today.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Witold Rybczynski is a writer and an emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of How Architecture Works and Mysteries of the Mall and has written about architecture and design for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Slate. Among his award-winning books are Home,The Most Beautiful House in the World, and A Clearing in the Distance, which won the J. Anthony Lukas Prize. He is the winner of the 2007 Vincent Scully Prize and the 2014 Design Mind Award from the National Design Awards. He lives with his wife in Philadelphia. Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (August 23, 2016) 5.7 x 23.2 x 219.2 inches Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) #306,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Houseware & Dining > Furniture
in Books > Arts & Photography > Architecture > History 5 star55%4 star9%3 star27%2 star9%See all verified purchase reviewsTop Customer ReviewsWho thinks about chairs? You will in a new way if you read this book.|History takes... a seat.|The chain's history|an interesting history of the development of chairs|Few illustrations and no photos|Not his best work| Set up an Amazon Giveaway Learn more about Amazon Giveaway What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item? How Architecture Works: A Humanist's Toolkit A Clearing In The Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th CenturyWith its bentwood frame, cantilevered seat, and curved backrest, the Poäng chair is one of Ikea's most recognizable pieces. The Swedish furniture maker has produced over 30 million Poäng chairs since it debuted in 1976, and it continues to sell about 1.5 million every year—the company's bestselling armchair—not bad for a design that's settling squarely into middle age.
So what, exactly, made the Poäng a commercial success and an instant icon for Ikea? The secret lies in a genius concept that's been gently updated with the times. The company doesn't normally put individual designers in the spotlight, but for the Poäng's 40th birthday, it did. Japanese designer Noboru Nakamura is the creator of the Poäng. He came to Ikea in 1973 to learn more about Scandinavian furniture—and there, he collaborated with Lars Engman, the director of design at the company, on a chair that would use plywood veneer construction. In a video interview, Nakamura, who left Ikea in 1978 to start his own furniture company, describes how the chair came about. "I learned by experience that a cantilever consisting of a U-shaped structure could, with a person, swing to some extent with the use of molded plywood, and I wanted it to swing in an elegant way, which triggered me to imagine Poäng," he says. "A chair shouldn't be a tool that binds and holds the sitter; it should be a tool that provides us emotional richness.
[Poäng] creates an image where we let off stress or frustration by swinging. Such movement has meaning and value." The final silhouette resembled Alvar Aalto's Model 406 chair of 1939, but in lieu of a webbed or caned seat, the Poäng sported thin upholstery. "While the design has remained largely unchanged since its inception, this iconic product has undergone some alterations to make it more accessible, more affordable, more relevant, and to increase the quality," says Mark Bond, deputy range manager of living rooms at Ikea. There have been tweaks to the upholstery color and pattern to keep the chair relevant with consumer tastes, but the biggest change happened in 1992. The chair's seat was originally made from tubular steel, but in the early '90s, the company switched to an all-wood frame and also narrowed the size. This allowed the chair to be flat packed—a move that reduced the price by 21% for customers (it's actually less expensive now than it was when it launched).
That same year, Ikea changed the chair's original name, Poem, to Poäng. "The evolution has always been design-focused, thinking of this product not as a fashion item but rather adhering to and improving upon the classic design," Bond says. Considering that the Poäng routinely shows up in houses, apartments, dorm rooms, and anywhere you need to kick up your feet, Nakamura's emphasis on an emotionally rich chair—and Ikea's affordability-minded engineering—have proven to be a winning combination. To honor the design, the company is selling a limited-edition version of the chair, with a grasscloth-like cushion cover much like the inaugural offering had in 1976, starting in September. Like the recently opened Ikea museum, that fanfare around the Poäng's design shows how the furniture company is beginning to demystify some of the genius that's contributed to its history—a welcome change that gives some of the most ubiquitous products in the world the same pedigree as pieces that cost many hundreds of dollars more.