CHAIR ERGONOMICS AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR DESIGN

DIMENSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND POSTURAL HYGIENE

Abstract

Design as a discipline is increasingly linked to the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, therefore, collaborative dialogue with other areas of knowledge and doing is of utmost importance. The interdisciplinary dialogue that exists today between Ergonomics and Design tends to be mere technical approaches based on data that simply quantify a preconceived project. This document seeks to account for some significant experiences in learning environments, applied in the Ergonomics course of the Design degree during its last 4 versions. Involving Ergonomics within the “project process” of design, through disciplinary content such as Biomechanics and Anthropometry as a significant learning experience, becomes a primary objective for us. In the first instance, a study is carried out associated with the biomechanics of the human being, where postural hygiene allows us to visualize the joint capabilities and restrictions of the human body faced with a complex postural sequence. In a second instance, and having understood the postural problem, we introduce ourselves to dimensional relationships, understood as the dimensional relationship between the human body and its built environment. To do this, we carry out individual and group anthropometric surveys, which translate into the construction of a series of Dimensional Avatars: personalized avatar, minimum avatar, maximum avatar and universal course group avatar. Ultimately, the qualitative and quantitative data obtained by the study allows us to redesign a desk chair, adapting it to the dimensional requirements of the four Avatars.