When I last reviewed something by Italian designer Antonio Citterio, the month was April, the vibe was pure Salone, and the manufacturer was longtime collaborator Vitra. The product was the Suita sofa, and the palette was bright pastels and creamy whites—just right for the dawn of a new Spring. Not to take anything away from such a seasonal concordance, but Citterio’s latest, the Unix Chair, offers a similarly pleasing set of shades for the onset of the lovely winter solstice. Among Vitra’s nine color options for this eminently functional office/multi-purpose/conference chair, a certain fiery red and a particularly verdant green stand apart from the requisite and requisitely sedate grays, blacks, and whites—perhaps this represents an appropriately festive nod to the holiday season after all.

Unix Chair. Designed by Antonio Citterio for Vitra.

Multiple Guises for the Same Comfy Mesh Back

The stylistic versatility should hardly surprise us, however, given that Unix has the potential to be all things to all people. At least, that is, all the people in a given modern office. Thanks to the many choices wherein its base is concerned, the chair offers a quintet of identities. Need a desk chair? Unix on rolling castors fits the bill. In the market for a new assemblage of conference seating? Call on stackable Unix atop glides. Or perhaps some lightweight and long-lasting public seating tickles your fancy? Check out the svelte lines of the cantilevered version.

Unix (and Vitra and Citterio, for that matter) will stake their reputation on fitting whatever contract niche you’ve got. As Vitra says, Unix is a “real all-rounder for the office: it can be used as an office chair behind a desk, or a visitor’s chair in front of it, while the various designs also make it ideal for conferences and meetings.” The chair’s adjustable seat height and ergonomic mesh back provide further incentive to rally your work-a-day troops around it. And if you act fast, you just might snag some of those red and green ones in time for the office Christmas party.