Spinning chairs make mallgoers go round and round

MANILA, Philippines — Mallgoers at select malls have found themselves spinning in place while gleefully looking up at the sky or wondering if they will ever slip off while sitting on a funny-looking chair. 

Mallgoers at Robinsons Malls were among the first to sit on rotating chairs inspired by the Spun Chair designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick.

The chairs look like a clay pot mold that is being spun or a spinning top with its head hollowed out in the center.

Heatherwick said in an interview regarding the Spun Chair's inspiration: "Was there a geometry you could make that was rotationally symmetrical that you could sit on and be comfortable in? Because if you could, you'd be breaking down the typical seat, back, arm, front legs, back legs, which are all the ingredients you are used to seeing."

He added that how their studios' creation was a "confusing object" that turned out to be a "funny, playful, different form of rocking."

The ones at the Robinsons malls are made using rotational molding with polyethylene. The chairs are hollow on the inside and allow users to spin around using only their body weight. All around the surface of the chairs are textured bands or lines, or like the ridges on a vinyl record as Heatherwick puts it, that help prevent users from slipping off.  

Heatherwick produced several metal versions tapping the process used to make timpani drums. Metal sheets were pressed against a rotating cast iron form using a paddle, welded and polished. 

Apart from Robinsons Magnolia, the Spun chairs can be experienced at Robinsons Antipolo and Robinsons Galleria Ortigas and soon at Robinsons MetroEast, Robinsons Galleria South, and Robinsons Naga.

RELATED: Blue wonderland: Interior design ideas using recycled denim