alberto meda's 'AM' chair for vitra is an economical tool for today's office needs

alberto meda has designed the ‘AM’ chair for VITRA as an ergonomic tool for today’s office needs. combining engineering skill, quality design and experience, the chair features dynamic armrests and a height-adjustable back. its slender plastic frame is complete with a fabric or mesh cover that bestows a sense of lightness. in the video above, alberto meda explains the design process behind the ‘AM’ task chair, while you can read our detailed interview with the designer here.

all images and video courtesy of VITRA

the main challenge in designing the VITRA ‘AM’ chair was to create a simple but high-performance chair that unites flexibility and stability. alberto meda resolved this apparent contradiction by stripping down the chair to its essentials and creating an intuitive adjustment mechanism. the mechanism responds to the respective user’s weight and automatically provides maximum personalised comfort without any prior adjustments.

the chair is complete with simple, user-friendly controls that enable further fine-tuning and numerous individual adjustment options. as such, it offers an ideal option for prolonged periods of sitting at a permanent desk. thanks to its immediate comfort, it is also well suited for touchdown workstations with frequently changing users.

while designing the ‘AM’ chair, alberto meda strictly adhered to functional requirements, avoiding structurally superfluous elements. ‘the first mechanism we used, which came from a supplier, was visually quite complicated,’ says meda in t he interview with designboom. ‘this is why I tried to make it much simpler. I think it is very important to make products as clean as possible. this is because, if you see the ‘AM’ chair from the side, you discover that there is some attention to an elegant composition of the elements of the mechanism. we put a lot of time and effort into reducing its visual complexity, and to make it simple and light. as well, we wanted to make it more adjustable and capable for fine-tuning. the chair’s mechanism has the capability to measure your weight, and adjust the spring force accordingly. then, the users are able to fine tune the spring’s force in order to increase the comfort of their back.’