The Soothing Chair is a great piece of furniture for school settings. Although it looks rather simple, it provides a safe haven for students looking for a bit of comfort, security and privacy at any given moment throughout the day. The Soothing Chair essentially provides a sensory stimulating environment in a more traditional setting instead of a therapeutic one.
Designed by Croatian designer Dorja Benussi for her Sensorimotor Educational Equipment project, the Soothing Chair is an inclusive approach to adapting to children with disabilities. Benussi writes, "Although designed based on “extreme” sensory needs, this kind of furniture positively affect the mood of each child. Ideally designed stimulating environment should encourage all the senses. But, as the proprioceptive, tactile and vestibular system are primarily responsible for the quality of memory and learning, the school environment should primarily stimulate them."
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Sensory Furniture
- Designing furniture for schools that provides a safe, sensory-stimulating environment creates an opportunity for a new category of furniture.
- Inclusive Design
- Creating furniture that caters to children with disabilities can inspire a new wave of inclusive design in furniture for schools.
- Sensory Learning
- Designing school furniture that stimulates the proprioceptive, tactile, and vestibular systems can lead to a new trend in sensory learning techniques.
Where This Applies
- Education
- The education industry can capitalize on the need for sensory furniture by exploring new partnerships in furniture design that benefit students, teachers, and schools alike.
- Furniture
- The furniture industry has an opportunity to tap into the need for sensory furniture by rethinking how they design furniture for schools and what value they can bring to the educational space.
- Inclusion
- The inclusion industry can leverage the need for inclusive design by partnering with furniture designers and schools to create more welcoming, accessible environments for all students.
