The year was 1983. Boomboxes were all the rage. Michael Jackson’s Thriller continued to astound pop aficionados with one top single after another. The footwear of choice was Nike Air Jordans. And the pseudo-mullet graced the heads of the coolest 17 year-olds across the country.

Though it might be hard to imagine, in spite of the era’s dubious aesthetic, good taste prevailed-at least it did in the North German town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, at the headquarters of a furniture manufacturer called Cor, in the mind of famed designer Peter Maly. ’83 was the year Maly created Zyklus, a marvel of engineering and a marvelous marriage of functionality and design, that, notwithstanding it’s been around for nigh 25 years, looks as if it debuted yesterday.

Zyklus. Designed by Peter Maly. Manufactured by Cor.

Designed around the concept of the circle, this portable and ergonomic easy chair at once embraces and eschews geometricity. That is, while the wheels, headrest, backrest, and seat are overtly geometric (circles or half-circles), they are-happily-circles! This is to say that when one thinks of geometry in design, one likely thinks of the severe line, the right angle, the rectangle, the square; or, in the case of mavericks like Karim Rashid, the asynchronous curve. But the modest circle? Not so likely. Leave it to Maly to find inspiration in the most surprising of ways: he conceived of Zyklus after noticing the design elements of a doll’s chair that belonged to his daughter. “The little chair underwent a wondrous metamorphosis: it was changed, adapted, redesigned and modernised, and the simple, stunning end result was an instant hit.”

Manufactured by Cor, with whom the designer shared (shares) a central philosophy (“The clarity of the design, combined with quality materials and optimal functionality, lends them the quality of timeless furniture classics”), Maly’s Zyklus was embraced for its elegant simplicity, its emphasis on functionality, and its appealing aesthetic. Both manufacturer and designer are committed to creating furniture whose look transcends the fads of a particular era. Likewise, they both believe that this kind of timeless appeal is ecologically beneficial. Maly’s designs “are counter-productive to the ever accelerating consumer carousel. That is also an ecological aspect, for things that one likes to have around in the home ambience do not get thrown onto the rubbish dump, but are passed on from generation to generation.”

The Zyklus chair is one such piece that’s easy to pass down-just tip it up and roll it to wherever it’s needed most.