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		Verner Panton Denmark 1926-1998


	Over the course of his career Verner Panton (1926-1998) introduced a host of remarkable products with personalities unique amongst his Scandinavian contemporaries. His faithfulness to traditional form, blended with new visions about object functionality construed with a vocabulary of vibrant colors and innovative materials. Experimenting with new technologies and materials available and looming on the horizion, He created a body of work that is astounding for its elegance and for the remarkable diversity of his pieces. Panton was born on an island in Denmark, and was educated at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He worked in Arne Jacobsen's architectural office from 1950-52, where it is rumored that his obsession with his own designs made him a less than valuable employee. Later, the obstinate Panton outfitted a Volkswagen bus as a drafting studio and traveled through Europe making contacts with manufacturers. By 1955 he was ready to set up his own design office and later in the year debuted the tubular steel, canvas and woven plastic "Bachelor" and "Tivoli" chairs. In 1958 he began to establish himself as the forerunner of avant-garde design with furniture based on profuse, geometric forms and use of exciting colors, such as the Cone Chair of 1958. The Applied Art display at the Fredericia Furniture Fair in 1958 was a harbinger of his non-traditional approach to the doctrine of modern design. His shocking display included the furniture hanging from the ceiling of the booth, resulting in critics, speaking in regards to the lack of traditional "legs", suggesting that they should be called `seats' rather than try to imagine them as chairs. The 1960s stacking "Panton" chair is one of the most recognizable of modern designs and is still in production today. This chair was the first of its kind, to be produced from a single piece of molded plastic. The design preceded the technological ability of plastic manufacturers, so did not become mass produced until technology could "catch up" in 1966. It debuted on the cover of Mobilia in August 1967 and was awarded an A.I.D. award in 1968. The shape of the chair, a single curve with no extraneous skeleton was designed to give a soft, rather than rigid, support and it was made is a range of bright colors. Originally produced by Fritz Hansen, it was later picked up and put into mass production by Herman Miller and later Vitra. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Panton began playing with the idea of creating a series of 'environments'. He designed the series 'Living Tower', 'Pantower', 'Upholstered Seating System,' which were upholstered seating systems, and interior landscapes unto themselves. He wanted "to encourage people to use their fantasy and make their surroundings more exciting". This series' of designs was inspired by Panton's philosophy that a set of furniture should interact within itself as "a kind of chair landscape, which refuses to be just functional." Verner Panton's contribution to modern design also included his ceaseless experimentation with lighting. His new approach to lighting incorporated the element of "fun". a series of shell lamps, a hanging "Globe" lamp, a wide variety of chandeliers and entire walls filled with lit panels and UFO like shapes. Panton's designs delighted with the use of color, and the ability to sway, spiral, and create sounds. These are completely unique lighting systems for interiors. Works by Verner Panton were innovative, fearless and conceptually experimental; they remain among some of the most forward work in design. His prophetic knowledge and kaleidoscope vision of the future movements of Pop Art can be seen even in some of his earliest work. It is clear the remarkable influence that he exerted over designers and artists even today. The emotional properties and the ardent preoccupation with technical solutions typify the unique qualities of Panton's designs.