Celebrating the Influence of Humanscale Designer Niels Diffrient, Who Passed Away This Month

Niels Diffrient, the celebrated Humanscale chair designer who created the popular Freedom Chair and Liberty Chair, died this month at the age of 84. Dubbed “the granddaddy of ergonomic design” by Forbes, Diffrient revolutionized the world of industrial design when he established what an ergonomic chair could and should be.

With a sharp eye for style and simplicity, Diffrient's Humanscale chairs supported the central idea of ergonomics; that the workplace should be fitted to the worker.

The Freedom Chair, Liberty Chair, and the Diffrient World Chair (his latest design), all offer elegant and timeless aesthetics with intuitive ergonomic adjustments. The chairs are constantly praised by industry professionals and users for their flexibility, support, comfort, and ease of use.

Diffrient once asked “Why should you have to read a 20-page manual to know how to run a chair?” This kind of thinking informed Diffrient's work and inspired him to create slim, striking, comfortable and efficient chairs that offer the same support and adjustability of bulkier and more complicated ergonomic chairs.

We celebrate Diffrient’s profound influence on ergonomic design every day at Human Solution by using and enjoying his chairs. His legacy will live on not only with the unique and popular ergonomic chairs he created, but also in the influence his work will continue to have in the design world for generations to come.