“Functional, comfortable, technical, sure, but few office chairs are this stylish. The Freedom is as smart as it is sexy.”
— Men’s Journal, February 2010
“The simple beauty of the Freedom chair is that once you’ve settled upon your personal fittings, there is nothing more to do.”
— The Best Ergonomic Desk Chair, ErgonomicDeskChairGuide.com, December 2009
“You can’t get more comfortable in a vertical position… You’ll marvel at the simple sophistication… A first-class seat.”
— Andrew Tilin, Our picks for … office chairs, CNNMoney.com
Fifteen years and over 10 design awards later, the Humanscale Freedom is still considered one of the most innovative designs in the task chair industry. Ironically enough, when the chair was first introduced in 2001, Humanscale had never before sold a chair. As a small company comparative to the Steelcase and Herman Miller giants at the time, Humanscale was taken to a whole new level when designer Neils Diffrient introduced the Freedom, revolutionizing ergonomic task chair performance through a unique austerity.
Humanscale has launched several chairs since, and so have industry competitors of course, but the Freedom has remained a top performer despite new releases due to a timeless desirability. Its sleek, alluring style matched with intuitive controls has made it a modern hybrid of ergonomics and sophistication. Through constant tweaking that incorporated over a decade of modifications, Diffrient was always working on the premise of his philosophy that form follows function.
The Freedom’s synchronously adjustable arm rests is one of the chair’s distinguished features and a first for high-end seating. This function was part of the chair’s most significant trait: simplicity. Unlike most ergonomics, the Freedom’s absence of numerous knobs, levers and whatnot make the task chair a work of art not only in aesthetics, but in functionality. It has a beautiful contour that pleases the eye, yet achieves the necessary degrees of comfort and efficiency to accredit it with top-of-the-line ergonomics. Its most predominant being the weight-sensitive recline. This feature is incredibly innovative, providing comfort and support to any body type without any manual effort. The chair simply uses the sitter’s weight to slow or speed up the recline action.
Speaking of top of the line, every component of the chair’s construction is of this standard as well. The arm pads, cushions, and even casters all utilize high-end, recycled/recyclable materials, enabling the chair to retain a small carbon footprint without sacrificing quality or style. Earn valuable LEED points, while helping preserve the health of our environment. It’s a win, win.
The Humanscale Freedom celebrates 15 years of surpassing new models as an timeless office chair. It remains one of the most design savvy and ingenious chairs on the market, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Here’s to another 15 years!
If you’re interested in purchasing your own Freedom chair, EthoSource has new, pre-owned and refurbished options available in a wide variety of colors. Check out our inventory or contact us for more information.