The History of IKEA’s Poäng Chair

IKEA’s Poäng Chair got its start in the 1970s. It was created by Japanese designer Noboru Nakamura, who came to IKEA in 1973 to learn about Scandinavian furniture. He collaborated with Lars Engman, then IKEA’s Director of Design, on the chair. Nakamura specifically designed the chair with a cantilever that would allow it to swing slightly when someone sat in it. In fact, he conceptualized the chair as a way of “[letting] off stress or frustration by swinging.” The chair was designed using plywood, steel, and thin upholstery and has remained largely unchanged since its creation, although small tweaks have been made over the years to keep the design relevant. The only significant update was made in 1992, when the chair’s seat, which originally made use of tubular steel, was replaced with an all-wood frame. The size was also narrowed slightly in order to allow the chair to be flat-packed, a move that allowed IKEA to lower the price and make Poäng more accessible to consumers. In 1992, the chair also got a new name — while it’s known as Poäng today, up until 1992, it was known by its original moniker, Poem. Today, more than 40 years after its introduction, Poäng is still one of IKEA’s best-selling items and appears in homes all over the world.