From the successes to the stresses, see everything that went into designing Setu, as told by Studio 7.5.
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Product Story
Technology has changed how and where we work. Now we work anywhere and everywhere. No matter where we work we want a comfortable chair.
Introducing Setu. Its innovative kinematic spine bends and flexes to your every move. There's nothing to tilt, nothing to tweak. Setu's finely tuned elastomeric fabric provides superior suspension and conforms to your contours. It's comfort now.
Instructions: Sit down.
The first thing you'll notice once you sit in Setu? Nothing. There's nothing to tilt, nothing to tweak. It's mathematics in place of mechanisms. From the moment you sit down, you and the chair move as one. It's form and function working together in harmony. It's elegance in the name of performance. Design for how we live and work now.
Watch "Setu: movement"
Geometry creates simplicity.
It all starts with Setu's single kinematic support spine. Made of simple compounds for the perfect combination of flex and strength, this geometric breakthrough cradles you and mimics your every movement without the need for adjustment.
Watch "Setu: evolution"
Only what's needed. Not a molecule more.
Inspired by nature with its spiraling shape and contours, this unique single support spine was perfected by technology. Every bend, every corner, and every line were painstakingly shaped, reshaped and reshaped again so that each molecule falls in the right order, in the right place. All in the name of less.
Watch "Setu: dematerialization"
Setu is complexity made simple.
Never has a chair required more problem solving, given us more headaches, and taken more time to perfect. But, we couldn't be more pleased with the result: Less.
More to the less story.
Thanks to Setu's spine, chair components are greatly minimized. In fact, Setu features few parts and weighs only 18 pounds. And less chair also means less time, cost, and energy needed to build it.
The details are in the materials.
From the tip of Setu's polypropylene kinematic spine down to its category-first H-Alloy base, there isn't a molecule we haven't mulled. Because, as with every Herman Miller design, our products and materials are one. This honesty in materials has long been the cornerstone of design at Herman Miller, and Setu firmly holds true to this principle.
Watch "Setu: materials innovation"
Setu's not-so-secret secret—polypropylene.
After testing dozens of different materials for Setu's kinematic spine we discovered the smartest solution was also the simplest. Yes, polypropylene. The same material used to make toothbrushes and garbage cans. But it's the unique combination of two different polypropylenes—a thermoplastic polymer for the spine's composite and ethylene-propylene for the spokes—that helps create Setu's kinematic spine for the perfect combination of strength and flex in such a lightweight form.
The fabric of Setu's performance.
Setu's suspension material,
Lyris 2, works in concert with the spine to distribute your weight evenly and conform to your contours like no other chair. You'll discover it's a finely tuned elastomeric material designed to provide superior suspension as well as aeration and temperature control. It's yet another example of elegance in the name of performance.
Setu is about choice.
PerformanceEdge and C-Layer suspension innovations are unique to the Setu upholstered chair, connecting with the Kinematic Spine to provide a similar level of comfort and support to the Lyris 2 suspension. C-Layer suspension is available in five colors to match the selected Setu frame.
Foundation Innovation.
A proven material in other industries, H-Alloy aluminum has never been used in a chair. But, to us, this material made perfect sense for our base. Not only is it durable and anti-corrosive, the unpolished and uncoated aesthetic means no added labor or harmful toxins. The result—less eco impact and a lighter carbon footprint.
A good fit for anybody, anywhere
Setu is designed to fit all shapes and sizes. But, equally important, Setu is designed to fit virtually all spaces and places. Adaptable like no other chair in its category. Setu appeals to your functional needs as well as your design aesthetic. It can be the feature of any room or simply be noticeably unnoticeable. It's adaptability now. Designed for how we live and work now.
There has never been a chair like Setu, nor could there ever have been, before now.
The typical chair design story goes like this: Start with an idea for a chair and shape it into the world around you. But, in designing Setu, Studio 7.5 in Berlin let the world around us shape the contours and performance of the Setu chair.
We call this inspiration through observation.
Here's what Studio 7.5 observed. Technology has not only changed how we work but where we work. Now we work in more collaborative spaces. In larger groups. In smaller spaces. With less individual space. For less time. Now we work anywhere and everywhere.
But while technology has changed where we sit and when we sit, we believe it shouldn't change how we all like to sit, in comfort. No matter where we are.
A simple concept. A complex challenge.
Together with Studio 7.5, the same talented, inventive, minds that brought us the Mirra chair, we combined our design expertise and manufacturing excellence. Then we set out to rethink old thinking. We started with everything we knew. Then we forgot it all. We studied. We learned. We asked questions. And we relearned.
Our world is different now. And it takes different thinking to create a different chair.
Welcome to now. Welcome to Setu.
Product Story
The Kinematic Spine
Dematerialization
Materials Innovation
Adaptability