Finally, Humanscale’s much-anticipated, ergonomically designed, mid-range-priced, good looking, stackable office chair is ready to ship! After winning awards in 2007 from the International Design Awards, the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization, Buildings magazine, and ID Magazine, Cinto is now available for purchase. It’s been some time in the making-as all good things are: Cinto won Silver at Best of IIDEX, NeoCon Canada 2006. But good things do come to those who wait.

Cinto. Manufactured by Humanscale.

As with all of Humanscale’s products, Cinto (meaning belt in Spanish) provides all-day comfort. The chair’s backrest flexes, allowing different users to reach a comfortable position for extended periods of time. It’s all about lumbar support-something stackable office chairs have never before addressed. The patent-pending design uses “stress-relief cross-slits on Cinto's seat pan [that] flex independently under the sitting bones to evenly distribute the user's weight and reduce pressure points.” So visiting guests at impromptu conferences can have physical and mental ease-Humanscale’s Cinto recognizes the mind/body connection.

With a listing price starting at $215, the Cinto fulfills its price point mission. And the Cintos acknowledge user needs through their choices: with or without armrests, with a sled base or four legs, with legs on glides or casters. The color options, too, “complement a wide range of commercial and residential interiors”; choose from nine colors-Red, White, Yellow, Taupe, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Light Gray, Gray, and Black.

As if these attributes weren’t enough, Cinto is 100% recyclable (they’re composed of steel, elastomer, and polypropylene). Better yet, Humanscale makes recycling easy: each chair is labeled with a phone number on the bottom, so that “owners may call when their chair reaches the end of its useful life [and] Humanscale will provide assistance … to help ensure their Cintos get properly recycled.”

I like the gray armless Cintos for a conference room, perhaps surrounding the World’s Longest Table for All Cultures. In white, the Cintos make great wedding seating-can’t you hear Pachelbel’s Canon? And clearly, the red ones belong to the Strukt or Thinner Tables, at home or at work. Humankind is once again showing at IIDEX, NeoCon Canada; you can stop at their booth for a well-earned and ergonomically-designed rest.