Lamino

The influence that designers have on their time and on future generations is a nice measure of their skill. verner panton was nothing if not very influential. Panton was well known for a number of revolutionary designs, both in material and form. The hallmarks of Panton’s works are the sculptural elegance, the striking forms, and most of all, the color. Panton’s work stood out from the work of his contemporaries in the greatest possible ways.

Panton’s life began in the Danish island of Fynen where his father was an inn keeper. He was interested in design which led him to study at the Academy of Art in Copenhagen. In his two year stint at Arne Jacobsen’s architectural office, Panton was not the best of employees as he preferred to spend his time on creating his own ideas.

Panton has a number of classics to his name. The most famous of them is the instantly recognizable Panton stacking chair. This monocoque form is in production now by Vitra and uses more advanced plastics, such as injection-molded polypropylene, than the ones Panton first saw it produced in. There are many cheap, Chinese copies of his design out there, which, though damaging to the designer’s reputation due to poor quality, are a definite sign of a nice design. There is not really much of a point in buying a copy, since you’d get a chair which cannot be sold for profit, and you would generally only save about 30 percent on the cost of the genuine article. Vitra has a limited edition, orange Panton chair this year, so there are no excuses!

One more of Panton’s excellent designs was the Cone chair. These were amazing when they were released, the single pivoting point being a big departure from three or four legs that people expected from chairs at that time. I recall my first encounter with this chair very clearly, as I simply couldn’t get over the optical illusion that it gives. It just seems to stand, perfectly balanced, top-heavy, with no regard at all for the laws of physics.

These two pieces combined with Panton’s famous interior designs (heminredning) had a huge influence on the coming decade. In 1973 Panton created yet another iconic design. This time it was the System 1-2-3 chair for Fritz Hansen. The System 1-2-3 may sound like your failed formation at the company football tournament but it is in fact an incredibly well designed chair made with flexibility, ease of production and comfort in mind.

In spite of these three pieces being design classics, the example of Panton’s work that you’re most likely to come across isn’t a chair but instead a lamp. The Flowerpot lamps, both pendant and table, are very widely distributed. This is because the cost of the manufacture is comparatively low, they’re small, they come in many colors, they’ve got the name of a fine designer on them, and most of all, they’ve got an immediately recognizable classic form.

A day or two will not be enough to write about the work of Panton. His work crossed boundaries and confounded expectations. His work survived the tests of centuries and has taken its place in the timeless modern classics of furniture and interior design (heminredning).

Verner Panton was a very influential designer from Denmark. His danish furniture (danska möbler) is known for its striking forms, sculptural elegance and color. His most famous piece is a stacking chair. This is now being produced by Vitra in plastic. Another of his classics is the Cone chair. It is a great departure from the three or four legged chairs we are familiar with. In the 1970’s he came up with the System 1-2-3 chair. It had flexibility, comfort and ease of production in mind. His most common work is the table and pendant Flowerpot lamp. His interior design (inredning) is timeless and classic.