Diffrient World Task Chair

Diffrient World uses the laws of physics and harnesses the user’s body weight to automatically provide the right amount of recline for every individual, every time. Its groundbreaking mechanism-free recline action leverages two parts of the chair’s frame to provide automatic, balanced support throughout the full range of motion for maximum support.

Diffrient developed the chair’s back using the laws of physics, which eliminates the requirement for a separate lumbar support, which tends to create a pressure point and requires manual adjustment. With patented Form Sensing Mesh Technology, the backrest perfectly conforms to the sitter’s entire back as if custom made for them.

A truly lightweight chair, Diffrient World replaces the standard cushion seat with a low-abrasion, non-stretch mesh. To maximize comfort, Diffrient eliminated the front edge of the chair, solving a perennial problem of hard edges placing pressure on the knees and contact stress behind the thighs, allowing long-term comfort and total supports for every sitter.

Niels Diffrient's designs are grounded in the philosophy that form follows function. His work has spanned generations, consistently looking past trends to reinvent the tools we use for daily living.

With an academic foundation in design and architecture and a degree from Cranbrook Academy, Diffrient channels his knowledge of engineering, architecture, and human factors into the creation of highly functional and aesthetically timeless designs.

From his early work with the studios of Eero Saarinen, Marco Zanuso, and Henry Dreyfuss to his current work with Humanscale, Diffrient's visionary talent has been widely recognized. Included among his many honors are the 2002 National Design Award from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the 1999 Chrysler Design Award. In recent years, Diffrient had focused his energies on designs for the office environment, particularly seating — a category in which he has pioneered numerous breakthroughs, from pneumatic cylinders for seat height adjustment to weight-activated automatic recline.

"If every chair was made the way the World Chair was, we would cut in half all the material used for task chairs." Niels Diffrient, Designer.

Drawing inspiration from the three dimensional approach tailors take when creating men’s suits, Niels Diffrient wanted to build a minimal mesh task chair with a back that automatically fits the user. He collaborated with textile designer Elizabeth Whelan to create a flexible but strong non-stretch mesh, so the backrest would take on the shape of the sitter. He also wanted World to be minimal but highly functional, so he worked to eliminate tension mechanisms, knobs and adjustment levers. The result is a task chair that is simple but beautiful, supporting each user instantly and changing the way people sit.