Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

Yves Béhar Creates SAYL Work Chair

by Nicholas Tamarin | Friday, October 8, 2010

When Herman Miller announced that Yves Béhar would be designing their latest chair, the A&D world new the results would deliver both spectacular form and unmatched function. The SAYL work chair does not disappoint.

Now available through YLiving the futuristic, streamlined seat is built of an elastomer suspension material that is stretched in a manner that provides tension at points on the body where support is need most and least in areas that required a wide range of motion.

Based on the Golden Gate Bridge in Béhar’s hometown of San Francisco, SAYL features a Y-shaped tower on its back—like cables that are stretched from the towers of a suspension bridge—that allows the stretched material to focus on the body’s transition zones, from the thoracic to the lumbar areas and between the lumbar area and sacrum. “Hinge points” allow these areas to flex and support the ideal, forward rotation of the pelvis.

Aesthetics and posture were not Béhar’s only concern, however. When choosing the chair’s material palette, he gave a big Bay Area nod to the environment. The result? SAYL is targeted to achieve MBDC Cradle to Cradle Silver, BIFMA level 2, and Greenguard certifications.

Images courtesy of Herman Miller.