Tops of the Town

In 2010, a new kind of swivel chair emerged, serving dual purposes—providing attractive seating, but also acting as a people magnet in cities around the world. It’s time for Sacramento to make some heads turn too.

December 28, 2023

Rob Turner,

Children playing at the Presidio on Magis Spun Chairs — Young visitors “ride” the red Magis Spun Chairs at the Presidio Tunnel Tops. (Photo by Paul Myers, courtesy of The Presidio Trust)

The Idea

Over a decade ago, after years of fits and starts, London designer Thomas Heatherwick and his team created the most improbable of chairs—one that would rotate 360 degrees without displacing its comfortably seated occupant. Called the Magis Spun Chair, it soon became a hit after the piece—made of durable molded polyethylene—debuted in 2010. It suddenly started appearing in both public and private spaces across the globe, from Los Angeles to Boston to Milan, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art added it to its permanent collection. (Heatherwick himself went on to design the cauldron for the Olympic flame at the 2012 London Summer Games, among other notable large-scale projects.)

I had my first encounter with the chair when visiting San Francisco’s then brand-new Presidio Tunnel Tops park last year, where a handful of the red version (they come in various colors) enthrall visitors young and old on a daily basis. It’s a chair, yes, but it’s also a tiny amusement ride, spinning as little or as much as its occupant desires. It’s also sculptural and smile-invoking. After all, when was the last time you saw people waiting to “ride” a chair?

Of course, the Presidio is just one of dozens of public spaces around the world where the whirling wonder beguiles those who stumble upon it.

So why not bring some here?

Like at the Presidio, with its stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps there should be a half dozen or so along the waterfront in Old Sacramento where our own signature span, the Tower Bridge, can double as a civic marker in the background of countless Instagram photos. Or perhaps in Downtown Commons, home of the Kings, where a smattering of Magis Spun Chairs would be a popular amenity. (Fittingly, they also come in purple.)

Would such well-placed furnishings be civic game-changers? Not on their own, but making a city a more interesting and alluring place isn’t about any one thing. It’s about the sum of many different parts, big and small—whimsical moments of beauty like these can be one of those parts.

The Players

The city of Sacramento’s Office of Arts and Culture could help spearhead this effort on public property, and Downtown Commons would make the call on their own turf. But these would also be perfect for any museum setting, from the Crocker to UC Davis’ Manetti Shrem.

The Bottom Line

A handful of these chairs could be one of the least expensive, lowest-maintenance civic activation measures that Sacramento can take to draw a crowd and make an impression. And the local interior design firm MTA sells them for $995 each (the purple version costs a bit more)—a pittance when compared to the multimillion-dollar plans that rarely transpire. Especially given the relatively modest price tag, we should take these playful works of art out for a spin.