Designers are always reinventing the chair, and 2016 was no different. Continuing our review of the year, deputy editor Rima Sabina Aouf shares her favourites, including seats inspired by comics, a granite throne and a chair with its own microclimate.

Manga chairs by Nendo

Japanese design studio Nendo created this series of 50 chairs based on the abstract lines and grids used in manga-style comic books.

Each polished stainless-steel chair in the collection is intended to emulate a design element used in manga to illustrate emotions or actions.

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Flax chair by Christien Meindertsma

Christien Meindertsma's Flax chair won two Dutch Design Awards for its innovative use of flax fibre.

The fully biodegradable chair is made from flax fibres combined with PLA – a polylactic acid made from sugarcane or corn starch – and cut from panels that leave no material left over or wasted.

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Campione chair by Max Lamb

British designer Max Lamb worked with experts from Italy's mountainous Trentino region to produce the monolithic Campione chair as part of a new initiative called Trentino Collaborations.

The chair is made from a slab of tonalite rock and showcases 14 different stone-carving techniques practised by granite specialists Pedretti Graniti.

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Cassina's Utrecht armchair upholstered by Bertjan Pot

Dutch designer Bertjan Pot created a colourful new bespoke textile for Cassina's classic Utrecht armchair, designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1935.

Covering 90 limited-edition chairs, Pot's BoxBlocks fabric features a unique geometric pattern in which the combination of triangles is never repeated.

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Pair chair by Layer for Fritz Hansen

Benjamin Hubert's Pair chair for Fritz Hansen has over 8,000 possible unique combinations.

With a pressed plywood seat shell and a translucent polycarbonate backrest, the design of the stackable chair presents an update on the mid-century style pioneered by Fritz Hansen.

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Microclimate chair by Greg Lynn for Nike

Presented at Nike's Nature of Motion exhibition in Milan, this temperature-regulating chair by architect Greg Lynn could help athletes significantly improve their performance.

The high-tech carbon-fibre chair is embedded with electronics designed to cool and heat athletes between periods of exercise.

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Ace chair by Hans Horneman for Normann Copenhagen

Normann Copenhagen worked with Danish designer Hans Horneman to create this range of flat-packed lounge chairs, which arrive in pieces and can be easily self-assembled.

The chairs feature rounded backs that are flexible to add "a springy feeling".

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Pacific chair by Barber and Osgerby for Vitra

Design duo Barber and Osgerby's minimal and "visually calm" Pacific chair is their first office seating for Vitra.

Launched at the Orgatec 2016 trade fair in Cologne, The Pacific chair conceals its mechanical parts behind an extra-long rectangular backrest, which extends below the base of the seat.

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Little Big chair by Big-Game for Magis

Swiss studio Big-Game was one of several to launch children's products in Milan, with a miniature adjustable chair.

Designed for kids from two to six years old, Big-Game's Little Big Chair features a lightweight plastic seat shell that fits over a wooden frame.

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Tree Trunk chair by Maarten Baas

This oversized armchair that would be formed inside a growing tree trunk featured in Dutch designer Maarten Baas's New! Newer! Newest! exhibition in Milan.

Baas' concept Tree Trunk chair would take 200 years to produce and would be grown using a mould pressed into a tree.

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