Body Conscious Design and Urbanism

Galen Cranz; Chelsea Rushton

doi:10.53910/26531313-E2024842704

Authors

Galen Cranz University of California at Berkeley https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2648-482X
Chelsea Rushton Gabriola Arts Council, British Columbia https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1527-6783

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53910/26531313-E2024842704

Keywords:

Body Conscious Design, chairs, posture, public space, seating reforms, sitting, urbanism

Abstract

Sitting is distinctively urban; the practice of sitting in chairs increased in response to global industrialization and urbanization. Sitting is the foremost contributor to sedentary lifestyle, which has recently been proven to shorten life span. This article guides readers to re-think chair sitting from the perspective of Body Conscious Design. Section 1 reviews the anatomical and physiological problems of right angle chairs and of sitting in general. Section 2 briefly recounts the history of chairs dating back to neolithic times and analyzes historically significant chair designs that remain popular today. Section 3 offers postures and equipment alternative to sitting on chairs based on biomedical research and innovations in chair design, and our direct experience. It also describes ways to modify a regular chair when forced to use one. Section 4 focuses on sitting reforms for public urban spaces that exemplify more body friendly policy and design.

Author Biographies

Galen Cranz, University of California at Berkeley

Dr. Galen Cranz is Professor Emerita of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. She holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago and is a certified Alexander Technique teacher. In 2011, she received the Career Award from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Her research spans urban parks, sustainability, body-conscious design, housing for the elderly, and the sociology of taste. Notable works include The Politics of Park Design (MIT) and The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body, and Design (Norton), which won EDRA’s 2004 Achievement Award. She has lectured internationally, served as a juror for park design competitions, and co-investigated the Latrobe Fellowship study on hospital lighting. Dr. Cranz emphasizes ethnography in her research, her most recent book being Ethnography for Designers (Routledge). She incorporates diverse cultural perspectives in her teaching, meeting Berkeley’s American Cultures requirement. Dr. Cranz holds two US patents for innovative bathtub and chair designs. She is currently faculty in the international residential course Moving Boundaries: Architecture and the Human Sciences.

Chelsea Rushton, Gabriola Arts Council, British Columbia

Chelsea Rushton, a Technical Writer at the University of California, Berkeley, holds a BFA with distinction in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria and an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Calgary, and 500-hour certification as a yoga teacher. She developed Art of the Soul: Creative Process as Spiritual Practice, an undergraduate lecture, seminar, and studio course that profiles 20th century modern and contemporary artists who engage in art-making as a method of spiritual inquiry and practice. Her independent research has been supported by the British Columbia Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the University of Calgary’s Centre for Research in the Fine Arts, and Calgary Arts Development. She has been working with Galen Cranz since 2019.