A trio of Duncan of Jordanstone students have created the world’s least comfortable chair in order to highlight the effects of bad posture.
The Disposture chair which makes Game of Thrones’ Iron Throne look like the world’s comfiest armchair was designed by Jessica Ross, Emily Wallace and Cathrynn Healy as part of their interior design degree course.
The chair took nearly two weeks to build and forces users to contort themselves into an uncomfortable position.
It uses strips of oak that have been joined together into a spiral shape, forcing the sitter to contort themselves into an agonising position.
Jessica, 19, was inspired to create the chair after hunching over her own desk while at work in her studio.
As human beings are not designed to remain in sitting positions for long periods, Jessica, Emily and Cathrynn decided to design a chair that highlights the negative effect on posture, however the user attempts to sit in it, and the need to sit up straight.
“Because we are always making models, I find myself quite hunched over and end up with sore shoulders and neck,” Jessica said. “It is about raising awareness because the idea is to force you to sit in an awkward position.
“I’m quite small so I can sit in it but anyone who is bigger would have real problems.”
The Disposture chair has been submitted for assessment as part of the students’ second-year course work but it has already attracted a few admiring glances.
“It has had quite a lot of positive feedback,” Jessica said. “A lot of people seem quite interested in it and have asked us about it.”
“We had five weeks to complete it and putting the chair together took about one and a half to two weeks but we won’t find out until next week how it has done.”
As well as back, shoulder and neck pain, bad posture can also contribute to breathing difficulties and digestive problems. It has also been blamed for worsening depression and stress.