Fuld Nesting Chair

“The chair is a very difficult object”, said Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “it is almost easier to build a skyscraper.” – And what applies to a normal chair is even more true for an office chair, which has to fulfil particularly high ergonomic requirements. In the case of the Fuld Nesting Chair, the US manufacturer Herman Miller set a further requirement: The chair had to be stackable. The Munich-based Diez office was commissioned to design the chair and, thanks to its experimental approach to the design, ultimately mastered the task with flying colours, as the jury found: “The challenge of designing a stackable office chair that is simultaneously foldable and has castors for mobility cannot be overestimated,” said the jury. “The Fuld Nesting Chair manages to cover all the essential functions in a convincing way.” Stackable to save space when not in use, the Fuld Nesting Chair does indeed set new standards for seating furniture – both aesthetically and functionally. The lightweight design dispenses with the X-shaped frame that is common in this category. Instead, it adopts the basic shape of an inverted “Y” – an innovative one-piece construction in which the backrest, tubular arms and rear legs are made from a single piece. The backrest is slightly elasticated and the seat with 3D knitted fabric can be easily folded up. Thanks to this design, the chairs can be stacked horizontally rather than vertically. “The core idea behind Fuld is that they can be nested like shopping trolleys,” explains Stefan Diez. This not only reduces the effort involved, but also makes it possible to arrange almost any number of chairs in moving rows. What is more, the chair is made from just two materials and can be easily recycled at the end of its life cycle. “The Fuld Nesting Chair not only impressed with its high level of functionality,” said the jury, “the quality of use is also outstanding. It offers the necessary seating comfort and the backrest provides ergonomic support. And as a stacking chair, the lightweight construction and castors make it easy for users and building management to set up and stow away – a really sophisticated design.”