Designer Antonio Citterio and Vitra’s history of collaboration now spans an impressive three decades. Beginning in 1988 with the first AC task chair, followed by numerous iterations after, the architect/designer has investigated the science of seating adorned with an artful eye for making ergonomics as visually comforting to the eyes as the chairs are to the body. Citterio’s tenth task chair with the brand, the Vitra ACX, arrives as an evolution of that long-lasting partnership – a chair not only serving the tenets of universal ergonomics for the home or office, but also one embracing the goal of producing an object with a “long service life with the smallest possible carbon footprint.”

Citterio and Vitra’s first collaboration took form in the AC1 in 1988, a juxtaposition of forms, patterns, and colors reflective of that postmodern era.

Vitra is calling the ACX “arguably the most sustainable task chair available,” a claim supported by the chair’s 100% recyclable construction (with the caveat the percentage does change according to specific customization options). Constructed with a limited number of components to simplify service and maintenance, Citterio explains, “The use of up to 100% recyclable materials was the single most important factor in the design process.”

Aesthetically, the ACX’s three-dimensional form-fitted knit covering the backrest is intentionally minimalist and without the intrusion of seams, yet the fabric retains a tactile imprint design promising supportive softness. The airiness of the mesh fabric design will appeal to those who prefer a lightweight presence across the back versus a traditionally padded support.

Made from 100% recycled polyester the knit cover is expressed in muted tones, resulting in a slight melange effect to complement both the ACX’s dark- and light-colored frame options.

The ACX is my tenth office swivel chair with Vitra and embodies the extensive know-how acquired throughout 30 years of close collaboration.

– Antonio Citterio

There has been an ongoing trend of subtracting controls from task chairs and the ACX follows suit. The elimination of physical controls can be attributed to reducing weight, cost, and in turn any confusion related to adjustment operation. In lieu of buttons and levers, the ACX’s mechanism automatically adjusts to a wide range of user weights, with only the seat’s height manually adjustable. Otherwise the chair is engineered to respond and adapt immediately to a person’s body, offering comfort and optimal support without a single control push, turn, or pull.

The lower part of the ACX backrest is a frame designed to offer lumbar support and optimal air circulation. Paired with a mesh or knitted cover stretched over this structure, the shell construction offers a great freedom of movement in the upper back and shoulder area unhindered by a frame.

The chair’s adaptive mechanisms are seamlessly integrated into the panel under the seat – an “adaptive” design, as described by Citterio – contributing to the chair’s compact design and uncluttered appearance. The mechanism is available with or without forward tilt, while the other features – height, seat depth, backrest lock, and two counterweight settings – are always included as standard.

“When you use a recycled material, the design needs to adapt to its inherent characteristics, while the overall production process has to take the physical and mechanical qualities of the material into account,” explains Citterio. “The structural elements in ACX are made of up to approximately 60% recycled materials, depending on the model.”

While Citterio’s ACX design alludes to concerns about the environment, its adaptive nature is also a response to the evolution of the work environment itself. “I see the office environment becoming more and more collaborative, more relaxed, less hierarchical, with the emergence of more informal, flexible, multi-purpose meeting spaces and ‘disruptive’ elements derived from residential ambiances.”

The ACX is available with height-adjustable armrests or 3D armrests, alongside in a range of natural muted tones.

Antonio Citterio Photo: Gianluca Di Ioia

The Vitra ACX is available in three versions: Mesh, Soft, and Light. The ACX Mesh starts at $990 and is outfitted with a knitted semitransparent fabric backrest, the ACX Soft starting at $1105 with a padded knit cover, with the entry-level ACX Light starting at $875 with a standard mesh knit cover (but only available in black).

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Mother Goddess of the Three Realms: Cross Encounters, Joining Threads was the title of “a celebration of UK and Vietnam’s cross-cultural and shared design heritage” curated by WAX Atelier (London) in collaboration with Blue H’mong craftswomen of Po Co village (Mai Chau Province) and KILOMET109 (Hanoi) as part of both London Design Festival and Vietnam Design Week.

The same group collaborated on Mother Goddess Rope (top and above), which is made from collectively sourced hemp, linen, nettle, silk, and wild yam root and bound together in song and dance.

Photo: Katie Treggiden

Using rope as both medium and metaphor, the exhibition explores cross-cultural ideas from a wide range of practitioners whom the curators describe as “a collection of individuals and organizations who are contributing to the preservation and proliferation of ancient material knowledge for one of humankind’s greatest technological inventions.” Above a selection of bast fibers show the ropes and cords that can be made from materials such as nettle, bramble, and raspberry.

A film screening area featured theater curtains and a backdrop made from naturally fire-retardant hemp, wool, and bast by British textile brand Camira and a pink theater rope made from cotton and silk by Brian Turner Trimmings Ltd, commissioned especially for the occasion. Two films were shown – Domestic Spinner by Yibing Chen, which explored the connections between spinning and women’s identities, and Mother Goddess of the Three Realms by Rocio Chacon and Yesenia Thibault Picazo (co-founder of WAX Atelier), which gave the exhibition its title and follows three groups of women as they create a 20-meter-long braided rope as an offering to the Mother Goddess to represent heaven, water, and forest.

The Nine Lives Shoe by Jennifer Duong and Natasha Hicks is made from recycled rubber, cotton, and nylon 4-stranded braided Caliga. It was designed for the “urban explorer” during Walking the City – a free summer school program led by STORE Projects to address the social imbalance in the creative industries.

Aimee Betts is an embroidery and textile artist specializing in traditional forms of stitching, knotting, and fabric manipulation, which she translates into contemporary designs. For this exhibition, she was showing ash batons, crapped and overhand stitched with wax cotton cord, leather cord, jute cord, and ceramic coated cord as well as samples made from the same types of cord and soutache cord, brass, tassel mould, dowel, rope, and vintage linen, combining traditional stitches with ones she has conceived herself.

Designed and made by Nice Projects, the simply titled Bench is made from hemp rope and wood to provide visitors to the exhibition with a place to rest, “converge and commune.”

Rope in Action is a sculptural structure running through the space that uses ubiquitous hardware items to showcase the rope strung and knotted through space.

Studio Raw Origins showcased Hemp, Earth + Politics – a demonstration of UK hemp decomposition processes into yarn, fiber, nutritional protein, and hemp seed oil – a small selection of their ongoing research into the thousands of uses for this carbon sequestering, zero waste, soil regenerating crop.

A Study in Bamboo by artist and molecular scientist Cynthia Fan is made from bamboo harvested over the summer from a garden in the area of London where the exhibition took place and is one of a series of compositions that enable an opportunity to gather field notes about the plant’s strength.

Sanne Visser, better known for her ropes made from human hair, was running rope-making workshops throughout the exhibition to demonstrate the process and offer visitors the chance to try it for themselves. She also had a dog lead made from human hair on display – part of her ongoing project, The New Age of Trichology, that connects hairdressers with spinners to promote this regenerative, non-extractive material for rope-making.

WAX Atelier collaborated with Brian Turner Trimmings Ltd to repurpose rope used for the recent British royal wedding into a temple decoration simply named Temple Tassel.

The Bee Skep Hut by Lyson Marchessault, Jesse Beagle, and Hayatsu Architects comprises a coppiced chestnut frame and a hazel and corrugated hemp fiber roof, wattle and daubed with London clay, hemp, and sand.

Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years’ experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.