Panton Chair Turns 50
The cantilevered stacking chair, originally made out of fiberglass-reinforced polyester, now comes in rigid polyurethane foam and recyclable polypropylene models.
Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
Photography by Jan Bitter; copyright asbl Atomium vzw.
Time to organize a golden jubilee—the Panton chair is 50. Though legendary Danish designer Verner Panton passed away in 1998, his trademark chair for Vitra has now reached the half-century mark and is still going strong.
Panton chair creation; photo copyright Vitra. Early Panton chair marketing; photo by Louis Schnakenberg.
Conceived by Panton, a protégé of Arne Jacobsen, in 1959 as the first cantilevered single-form injection-molded plastic chair—it’s the first chair of any kind made in one piece from one material—it wasn’t perfected until 1967 when it became the product independently developed by Vitra. Its spare sculptural form has turned it into an icon of modern design that, along with Panton’s Living Tower for Fritz Hansen, reached near ubiquity in the 1970s.
"How to undress in front of your husband"/Photo series with Amanda Lear; photo by Brian Duffy, copyright Vitra.
The stackable chair has enjoyed a renaissance of late after aging from a trend-setting piece into a classic and it is still manufactured by Vitra, though its materials have changed over the decades. Originally made out of fiberglass-reinforced polyester, it now comes in the rigid polyurethane foam and recyclable polypropylene models lacquered in an array of sleek colors. There is even a children’s version, the Panton Junior, ensuring yet another generation will be embracing Panton’s masterwork.
Panton Junior; photo by Marc Eggimann, copyright Vitra. Saint Bartholomew Church, CZ; photo by Qubus Design, CZ, copyright Vitra.
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