Verner Panton (13 February 1926 – 5 September 1998) started his creative career as a painter, then went on to study architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. Upon graduating, he made connections within the world’s established design circle by travelling in his VW van converted mobile office all through Europe. He also had a short-lived marriage to Poul Henningsen‘s step-daughter, and worked for Arne Jacobsen for two years.
It seemed as if Panton was on the path to be a conventional Danish designer, but his spontaneous and playful personality manifested through his work. Within his long design career, he created an extensive oeuvre much of which presented bold colours, and geometric forms.
He made his greatest impressions by producing interiors for the chemical company Bayer’s pleasure boat-slash-showroom that became the Visiona Exhibitions (1968 and 1970), as well as producing the Spiegel Publishing House (1968) and the Varna restaurant (1971).
One of Panton’s design legacies. Visiona II, 1970.
This room installation allowed Verner to showcase his vibrant and psychedelic vision. He also developed a wide range of furniture, lighting, wall decor and textiles especially for this project that were later put into production, and still is to this day.
Verner Panton was experimental and ahead of his time, using chrome and moulded plastic that were back then innovative and unconventional compared to the natural materials of the past. The iconic Panton chair was the first to be moulded completely out of one piece of plastic. The expressive shape and durability has made it a design icon of the twentieth-century.
To this day Panton’s designs are seen in many homes and spaces, such the Pantella Lamp and Panton chair. They continue to be in production with some of the world’s most established manufacturers: Vitra, Louis Poulsen and &Tradition. Available at minima.