Fast Company’s 2019 Innovation by Design Awards honored SILQ™, a Steelcase chair that transforms seating through design. Through an innovation in materials science and a patent-pending process, Steelcase designers and engineers created a new high-performance composite material without the expense of using carbon fiber. The result is a chair that responds to the natural movements of the human body with only one adjustment— height.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by Fast Company alongside other groundbreaking innovators,” said James Ludwig, vice president, global design and engineering. “The way SILQ is shaped, what it is made of and the way it performs are inseparable. Our team pushed the boundaries of materials science to create SILQ, a chair that’s more organism than machine.”

SILQ is designed for the way people work today. People are moving from one space to another and need a chair that is intuitive to use. The way SILQ responds to a person’s posture and stature is unique to each user because of the way the materiality, design and motion of the human body come together.

“The simplicity of this chair means anyone who sits in SILQ is going to be supported and delighted no matter where or how they are working,” said Ludwig.

SILQ received an Honorable Mention in the Workplace category in Fast Company’s 2019 Innovation by Design Awards. Innovation by Design honors creative work at the intersection of design, business and innovation. Fast Company editors and writers spend a year researching and reviewing award applicants. This year’s applicant pool was the most competitive ever. SILQ is being honored alongside innovative companies such as Microsoft, Nike and Gensler.

“It always gives us great pleasure to honor the best design and designers working today—but this year was unique, not only because of the sheer number of entrants (more than 4,000!) but because of the strength of the works submitted,” said Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief, Fast Company.

Innovation by Design award honorees are featured online and in the October issue of Fast Company magazine.

SILQ is available globally. You can find more information about SILQ on our website.