Video Liberty Task Chair from HumanscaleThe Liberty Task Chair by Humanscale is a smart mesh office chair that provides automatic lumbar support for every user and is easy to use. Liberty is designed to provide unique, user-centred comfort for all seated individuals. Like Humanscale’s Diffrient World Chair , Liberty utilises Humanscale’s innovative body contouring mesh technology and automatic backrest adjustment, which provides perfect support and unrivalled comfort without the need for additional mechanisms.
With its minimalist design that blends into any room, the Liberty Task Chair is the ideal seating solution for modern working environments. The automatic, weight-sensitive adjustment of the backrest and the armrests attached to the backrest ensure constant support. With this and the innovative tri-panel mesh backrest, Liberty combines function, simplicity and aesthetic design. Liberty requires fewer parts than conventional task chairs and impresses with its timeless and environmentally friendly design.
FEATURES
Thanks to its form-flexing mesh technology, Liberty is unlike any other mesh chair you’ve seen or tried. With its three-piece construction, Liberty offers a unique body contouring that chairs with a single stretch mesh back simply can’t match. Liberty also offers perfect lumbar support and a recline function with weight compensation that allows any user to recline comfortably without the need for external devices or manual adjustment.
Easy adjustment of the backrest
The intelligent kinematics of the Liberty backrest are based on the laws of physics and the sitter’s weight and always provide the right support when leaning back. Without manual controls, the user can change their sitting position during a long working day in a relaxed and dynamic manner.
User-orientated
The mesh fabric for the backrest of the Liberty consists of three pieces of non-stretch mesh material. They are joined in the same way as the pieces of fabric that a tailor puts together to make a shirt. Its contours are designed to mould to the user and support them throughout the day.
Promotes movement
Liberty was developed to adapt automatically to the sitter, regardless of height and weight. As there are no manual controls and the chair is equipped with Humanscale’s weight-sensitive backrest adjustment, the user can move dynamically and actively with ease and without restrictions.
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Design: Niels Diffrient
Niels Diffrient’s design philosophy is based on the guiding principle: form follows function. His work spans generations, always looking to past trends to reinvent the tools for our daily work needs.
Drawing on his academic training in design and architecture and his degree from the Cranbook Academy, Niels Diffrient combines his knowledge of technology, architecture and the human factor to create exceptionally functional and aesthetically timeless designs.
From his early work in the studios of Eero Saarinen, Marco Zanuso, and Henry Dreyfuss to his collaboration with Humanscale today, Diffrient has been widely recognised as a visionary designer. His numerous awards include the 2002 National Design Award from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, the National Design Museum and the 1999 Chrysler Design Award. In recent years, Niels Diffrient has focussed his energy on products for office environments, particularly seating. He has pioneered ground-breaking work in this field, including the pneumatic cylinder for seat height adjustment and the automatic weight-sensing tilt function for chairs.
Company overview
As one of the leading companies for holistic ergonomic solutions in the workplace, Humanscale manufactures products that enable users to adapt the workplace to their individual needs and not the other way round. Since its founding in 1983 by CEO Robert King, Humanscale has been developing innovative products that support healthier and more active ways of working. Humanscale is one of the world’s leading ergonomic office furniture companies and has a reputation for designing intuitive products that improve the comfort and health of people working in offices. Headquartered in New York, the company first attracted attention in the 1990s with the introduction of movable keyboard systems. In 1999, Humanscale further expanded its market position as a manufacturer of ergonomic products with the introduction of the Freedom Chair. Designed by the famous ergonomic designer Niels Diffrient, the office chair is characterised by innovative functionality and minimal operating effort. This example was followed by other office chair designs by Nils Diffrient such as the Liberty Chair, the Diffrient World Chair and the Diffrient Smart Chair. Today, Humanscale has branches in more than 28 countries. The company has even been discovered by Hollywood thanks to its products, which have “starred” in successful TV shows and blockbuster films such as The Newsroom, New Girl, 24, The Bourne Ultimatum, Mission: Impossible III and Mr & Mrs Smith. With its latest products, Humanscale underlines its reputation as an innovative design-focussed company. These include the Element LED table lamp, the Ballo stool and the height-adjustable QuickStand sit/stand console.Chairs and stools
We at Humanscale are convinced that simplicity guarantees maximum functionality. Instead of a complex seat adjustment system that requires explanation, our office chairs utilise a mechanism that reacts automatically to the user’s body weight, works completely maintenance-free according to the laws of physics and guarantees the best possible seating comfort. Our long-standing partnership with the legendary designer Niels Diffrient has resulted in the award-winning Freedom, Diffrient Smart, Diffrient World and Liberty office chairs. We also work with internationally recognised industrial designers such as Don Chadwick and Todd Bracher to develop new seating.Humanscale office chairs are designed to last and look as good ten years later as they do today.
- Our textile fabrics have achieved a durability of more than 150,000 double rubs in the Wyzenbeek test. This puts the durability of Humanscale’s textiles well above the industry standard.
- Our textile fabrics are not glued to the upholstery covers, which prevents creasing and protects the environment in the long term.
- The armrests are fitted with a separate, wear-free foam insert.
- The surface of our plastics is protected against scratches.
- The surfaces of the office chairs are neither painted nor treated in any other way to prevent visible signs of wear from the outset.
- We use fewer parts for our office chairs to reduce the impact on the environment.
Evolution: Office chairs in the workplace
1960s – 1970s
Simple, but not adjustable – 1980s – 1990s
Adjustable, but complicated – Humanscale 2000 to today
Simple and automatically adjustable
We develop our office chairs without buttons and levers, making them amazingly easy to use. All our office chairs allow the user to change sitting positions effortlessly and without the need for manual controls. Designing easy-to-use office chairs ensures that they are used correctly and in a way that promotes good health.
Most office chairs have armrests that are fixed to the seat and do not allow the arms to rest comfortably when the user leans back or changes sitting position. Humanscale designs all office chairs in such a way that the armrests are connected to the backrest and the arms are always in a healthy and ergonomically correct position when the seated person moves.
Soft seat cushions are comfortable for short periods of sitting, but can be very uncomfortable when sitting for several hours. Humanscale’s seat covers are harder than the competition and provide comfort throughout the working day. We were the first company to use gel for our seat cushions. As gel does not compress, it provides optimum support for the seated person’s spine and increases seating comfort for many hours.
The office chairs from Humanscale adapt perfectly to each user as if they were customised for them. Instead of the conventional heavy mechanisms, which consist of up to 40 individual parts, our office chairs utilise the laws of physics and the body weight of the person sitting in them. This means that the office chair automatically recognises the user’s weight and supports the spine perfectly in every sitting position. Healthy sitting in the body plumb line is the relaxing sitting experience.
