Sonya Levchynska

Allow Perching (1)

Pim: Not everything is about a chair.
I: Yes, it is. It is everywhere—cafés, hospitals, public transport, etc.—it even shaped the toilet. Yet, it can lead to extinction.
Pim: Whose extinction?
I: Humans’.

How do chairs lead to extinction? Through their specialized (1) aspects—cultural, structural, and functional.

Humans are inherently prone to discomfort. Standing still, sitting, lying down, or even moving for too long can be exhausting. So we shift—transitioning from one posture to another—to relieve pressure or fatigue. This need for movement is instinctive. It reveals our bodies’ adaptability.

The chair denies this adaptability. It naturalizes a single posture and restricts movement, while other postures—like squatting, kneeling, or sitting cross-legged—are exoticized, marginalized, or linked to discomfort or poverty.

Freedom of bodily movement is necessary. Objects for both action and rest—designed at varied heights to offer different spatial perspectives—communicate through physical interaction while remaining ambiguous in identity. These aspects challenge the silent specialization the chair upholds.

(1)Perch - to alight, settle, or rest on a perch, a height, or a precarious spot.

(2) The association between specialization and human extinction echoes Buckminster Fuller’s claim in the Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth  that “extinction occurs through specialization."