The Designers

Verner Panton

Verner Panton is considered to be one of Denmark’s greatest furnishings designers. He will be best remembered for creating futuristic and uniquely designed furniture from brightly coloured plastics.

His style of furniture is synonymous with the 1960’s although its’ modernist design has meant it has remained exceptionally popular right up to the present day. Born in Denmark in 1926, Panton studied firstly architectural engineering at Odense followed by an architural degree at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Art Academy.

Following his graduation in 1951, he worked for the architectural practice of another famous Dane – Arne Jacobsen. Here he was considered something of a troublemaker and within 2 years he had set up by himself. Very quickly he earned a name for himself as an innovative and free-thinking designer who was not constrained by conventional designs and materials – good examples of this are his 1955 ‘Collapsible House’ design following in 1960 by his ‘Cardboard House’ and ‘Plastic House’ concepts.

Around the same time he was experimenting with fresh furniture designs unlike anything seen at the time. He used very bold colours and unusual materials. The results we inspirational – like the injection molded plastic stacking S chair (or Panton chair as it is now known) which would become his most famous and mass produced design. He was also one of the first people to experiment with inflatable furniture – something which became very popular during the 1960s.

His designs have often been said to have a ‘child like quality’ about them, in that they are often completely unconventional in their shape and material, as well as bringing a sense of fun and life to the space that they are in.

Verner Panton sadly died in 1998, but his legacy lives on in the designs that he created during his life.