The influence a designer has on their era and future generations is a good measure of their ability.
Verner Panton was nothing if not influential. Panton was known for many revolutionary designs, both in form and material. The hallmarks of Panton's work are sculptural elegance, striking form and above all, color. Panton's work stood out from that of his contemporaries in the best possible way.
Phanton, the son of an innkeeper, began his life on the island of Fynen. An avid interest in design led him to study at the prestigious Academy of Art in Copenhagen. He followed this with a two-year stint at Arne Jacobsen's architectural office. He was allegedly not the best of employees, preferring to spend his time on developing original ideas Verner Panton was born on the isle of Fynen in Denmark. His father owned an inn. Because he wanted to be a designer, he took courses at the Copenhagen Academy of Art. After that, he worked for two years in Arne Jacobsen's architecture firm, apparently being a somewhat poor worker who preferred to pass his time on the development of his own designs.
Panton has several classics to his name. The most famous is the instantly recognizable Panton stacking chair. This monocoque form is currently in production by Vitra, using more advanced plastics (injection-molded polypropylene) than those Panton first saw it produced in. There are plenty of cheap Chinese copies of this design on the market, which although damaging to the designer's reputation through their poor quality, are a sure sign of a great design. There isn't really much point in buying a copy in this case as you would end up with a chair that can't be sold on for a profit and you would typically only save around 30% on the cost of the real thing. Vitra has a limited edition orange
Panton chair out this year so no excuses!
Panton also designed the Cone Chair. It was amazing and unexpected when it first debuted, since its unique pivot was so different from the parts of usual seating items which had three or four legs for support. I can still envision the first time I encountered this chair, because its optical illusion really struck me. The Cone appears to stand perfectly balanced although that seems scientifically impossible due to its remarkable, top-heavy appearance.
These two pieces, combined with Panton's famous interior designs (
inredning), had a big influence on the upcoming decade. In 1973,
Phanton came up with one more iconic design. This time, it was a System 1-2-3 chair made for Fritz Hansen. The System 1-2-3 might sound like a failed formation at a company football challenge, but in fact it's a very well designed chair that is made with flexibility, comfort, and ease of production 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 comparitively 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.
Panton was such a prolific designer that it would be quite possible to write for many days about all his work. In its time, his work pushed the boundaries and confounded all expectations. Indeed, much of his work has survived the whole psychedelic stigma of the 1960s and now takes its place among the timeless, modern classics among furniture (mobler) and interior design (heminredning).
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. One more of Panton's excellent designs were the Cone chair. These two pieces, combined with Panton's famous interior design (heminredning), had a big influence on the upcoming decade. His table and pendant Flowerpot lamps are found everywhere. No wonder since they are very cheap to produce, convenient, available in many colors, have a great designer name behind them, and have a classic look of danish furniture (danska
möbler) that is sought after by many.
