| f the most influential Danish furniture designers of | | | | ‘S’ chair – to have fluidity |
| the 20th century was Verner Verner Panton. The | | | | in its lines and each had distinct landscape-like |
| most well known item that came from his brilliant | | | | qualities. All of the pieces were produced with the |
| mind was the single unit cantilevered chair made | | | | most advanced techniques of the day and he |
| from steel and molded plastic. This chair is one of | | | | consistently built upon and improved each |
| the most famous designs of the century and | | | | subsequent design. Plus, Verner Verner Panton is |
| quickly became as much a symbol of the 1960s | | | | the father of inflatable furniture, his first |
| as the peace sign and bell bottom pants. Born in | | | | prototype being an inflatable pneumatic stool. It |
| 1926 on the Danish Island of Funen, Verner | | | | would be years before inflatable furniture became |
| Verner Panton would go on to be known for his | | | | mass marketed but all of it was based on his |
| extravagant form and use of bright, intense | | | | inspirational design. |
| colors that is firmly seated in the functionalism of | | | | Connoisseurs of Verner Verner Panton’s |
| the 1950s. | | | | work can point out the change in Verner Verner |
| Verner Verner Panton was a man who took a | | | | Panton’s work during the late 1960s and |
| systematic approach to everything in his life but | | | | early 1970s. Verner Verner Panton began to work |
| most especially his designs. He trained as an | | | | with interiors, using rich colors and fabrics of all |
| architectural engineer at Odense Technical College | | | | types to create a room that was nothing short |
| and went on to the Royal Danish Academy of | | | | of fantastic. Many of his creations were very |
| Fine Arts. He worked for Arne Jacobsen from | | | | forward thinking and otherworldly and he |
| 1950 to 1952 and helped in the development of | | | | challenged the people living with his ideas to be |
| the ‘Ant’ chair. He went on to | | | | creative with the furniture and interior designs he |
| start his own firm and worked as an independent | | | | gave them. The Loreley cruise ship that sailed on |
| architect and designer from the mid-1950s until his | | | | the Rhine and was commissioned by Bayer AG |
| death in 1998. | | | | and the Grand Europa had an interior designed by |
| This was not a man who focused on a single | | | | Verner Verner Panton. |
| object but instead saw whole groups of furniture | | | | This experimentation in Verner Panton’s |
| and how they would fit in the confines of a room. | | | | work has been considered a defining factor in his |
| His work was extensive and diverse and many of | | | | unique style. He designed seating furniture and |
| it can be found in the comprehensive | | | | lamps for manufacturers such as Fritz Hansen, |
| retrospective that is in the Vitra Design Museum. | | | | Louis Poulsen, Thonet, Herman Miller/Vitra, Royal |
| He gained international recognition with his | | | | Copenhagen, and Rosenthal. The |
| geometric based furniture that was manufactured | | | | ‘Flowerpot’ lamp and the Verner |
| by Plus-linje, namely the ‘Cone | | | | Panton chair are still in production today with |
| Chair’. Because they were made of | | | | other pieces from Verner Panton’s mind. |
| plastic, they were easy to reproduce on the | | | | He also became known for his collaboration with |
| industry line. | | | | Mira-X for his intense colored and geometric |
| To say that Verner Verner Panton’s | | | | patterned textiles. He won numerous international |
| approach was non-traditional is probably an | | | | design awards and continued working up until his |
| understatement. He preferred his furniture | | | | death. |
| – whether in plastic of plywood like the | | | | |