Matrix Furniture

January 6, 2004 11:11 AM

Does anyone know who makes the chair that Agent Smith wheels over and sits down in while interrogating Morpheus in the first Matrix movie?
posted by tirade to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Are you talking about a chair made entirely of metal, with circular holes drilled in its back in a rectangular pattern?

If it's that one, then my only clue is that there are about two hundred of them in the food court of my local shopping mall. So maybe whoever makes them sells them wholesale, instead of retail.
posted by Prospero at 12:05 PM on January 6, 2004

Response by poster: That's it. You sure they're the same?
posted by tirade at 12:14 PM on January 6, 2004

They're exactly the same (my friends and I even call them "Matrix chairs"). In the food court of the Princeton Marketfair, just off Route 1.
posted by Prospero at 12:19 PM on January 6, 2004

Indeed. Visible in this picture.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:44 PM on January 6, 2004

like this?

outdoor cafe chairs are very durable, and very expensive generally.
posted by th3ph17 at 3:00 PM on January 6, 2004

Holy shit Prospero... I go to that food court all the time, those chairs are identical. Wow imagine that, two mefi members somewhat meeting. Heh
posted by ac at 5:41 PM on January 6, 2004

Response by poster: That's identical, or at least very similar, to the chair that Morpheus was sitting in. If you look closely, though, the chair that Smith pulls over is different. It's more of a standard task chair - it's got curved arms coming down in an arch, and it's not sitting on four legs - it's on roller wheels radiating from a central post. Looks height adjustable too. You only really get a good look at it when it's getting shot up from the helicopter. (I had to go back to the DVD for a sanity check... wish I could grab a screenshot)

I'm not normally so anal retentive, it's just that I've been looking for a computer task chair and I wanted something fairly small and minimalist but I hate those generic chairs from Officemax. I think I'd actually be more comfortable on a metal chair like that. The "Matrix Chair" caught my eye but I haven't been able to find it or anything similar.

Thanks for the help so far, though. The design within reach link is much closer than I was able to get myself.
posted by tirade at 6:33 PM on January 6, 2004

I think the one you're talking about is a chair produced for the Bauhaus, it's actually astonishingly early - something like 1928, despite looking so very dot-com. Unfortunately, the name is slipping my mind at the moment, and a quick trawl through Google isn't helping. Sorry.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:28 PM on January 6, 2004

FWIW, though, that chair or anything like it'll kill you as a task chair. It's sooooo worth it to shell out a little bit more and get proper task seating - your six-month budget for shiatsu and painkillers will easily be more than an Aeron would cost you these days, and if the Aeron's too technogothic for your liking, Steelcase and Allsteel make excellent alternatives.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:32 PM on January 6, 2004

I'm a huge fan of the Steelcase LEAP chair. (here's another link, as Steelcase's web site seems to be down at the moment).

I was amazed when my current job had these for everyone. I'm a big guy, and not only are they hugely comfortable, they're VERY durable and stay so over the long run (figure 5 hours/day sitting, at least, 5 days a week, for the last year - and this is a chair that someone else used before I did).

Unfortunately, they come with a price - I think the one I'm sitting in right now runs about $900 (fully adjustable, fabric upholstery). After using one for a year at the office, I'm going to buy one for home soon.
posted by mrbill at 7:46 PM on January 6, 2004