Who invented the swivel chair?
The swivel chair was invented by Thomas Jefferson, who upon penning the Declaration of Independence craved a chair with more mobility. Rather than pass the task off to a local tradesperson, Jefferson opted to take on the project himself doctoring a standard Windsor chair with an iron spindle placed between the seat and legs and rollers borrowed from window sash pulleys. Jefferson was reportedly so pleased with his swiveling prototype that he totted it home to his plantation in Monticello, Virginia to finesse its form even further. In addition to replacing the chairs’ original legs with bamboo, Jefferson added a writing paddle to one arm of the chair to up its functionality. Following its inception, Jefferson’s swivel chair concept remained mostly dormant until the 20th century when office work became the norm and designers began more extensively examining the merit of sitting ergonomics. Along with features such as tilting, seat height adjustment, armrests, and wheels, swiveling became a must-have mechanism for office chairs.
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Lead photo by Alisberg Parker Architects