The Alexander Technique in the world of design: posture and the common chair Part I: the chair as health hazard ............ Galen Cranz Abstract This article presents a critique of what may be thought of as the Western tradition of chair sitting and chair design. It begins by summarizing ®ve principles of the Alexander Technique, which are applied to the problem of chair design. The surprisingly weak physiological and kinesthetic basis of chair design is described, raising the question of how and why the chair has become so important. To answer this question a brief history of chair development is presented. Part I concludes that the representation of social status has distracted chair designers and users alike from designing chairs for physical well-being. On the basis of this critique, Part II develops recommendations for body-conscious furniture and interiors. # 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd This article 1 explores the intersection of somatic practices and design, the arena of body-conscious design. And as the title suggests, it does so primarily through the author's association 2 with the system of posture and movement developed by F.M. Alexander at the 1 This paper was ®rst presented as a keynote address at the 44th Annual International Conference on Design at Aspen in 1994, the theme of which was `Body and Environment.' It has been edited and substantially rewritten for publication. For more complete and detailed discussion see Cranz (1998). 2 The author's knowledge of somatics as a general ®eld comes chie¯y through experience with the Alexander Technique, ®rst in 1978 as a pupil, then Footnote 2 (continued) as a trainee, and ®nally as a teacher, certi®ed in 1990. In addition, she has experienced and bene®ted from several other somatic disciplines including Rol®ng, the Feldenkrais 1 Method, Rosenwork, Hellerwork, Trager, Mind-Body Centering. Older traditional Asian systems share with somatics the view that body and mind are part of a system: the author has practised tai chi chuan daily since 1976, practiced yoga intermittently for 17 years, experienced 2 years of jin shin and 24 years of acupuncture as a client. The author came to the Alexander Technique because of the back pain suered as a result of rotatory scoliosis, a sideways curve in the spine. One ........................................... Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2000) 4(2), 90^98 # 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd Galen Cranz PhD AmSTAT NASTAT Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA Correspondence to: G. Cranz, Tel.: +510 642 5910; Fax: +510 643 5607; E-mail: gcranz@uclink.berkeley.edu Received January 1999 Revised November 1999 Accepted December 1999 REVIEW 90 JOURNAL OF BODYWORK AND MOVEMENT THERAPIES APRIL 2000