In the annals of furniture design, the Panton Chair is a classic.
The chair was designed by Verner Panton in 1959, and then developed for mass manufacturing in partnership with Vitra (1967) as the first cantilever-style chair made entirely of plastic.
It is featured in the collections of several prestigious museums and has won numerous international design awards. Thanks to its expressive shape, it has evolved into a timeless 20th’s century design symbol.
The production issues that gave life to an icon.
Verner Panton, Danish designer, had the idea of a plastic cantilever chair in the second half of the 1950s: it was the first concept of the Panton Chair. The design was innovative and ambitious, but no manufacturer was willing to follow this bold idea… until Vitra arrived.
Beginning in 1963, in fact, Vitra and Verner Panton worked together to create one of the most recognizable chair designs of the 20th century.
The strong proportions that the designer had envisioned had to be harmonized with the physical limitations of plastics technology and the demands of production, which proved to be a virtually insurmountable undertaking.
They needed ten prototypes made of hand-glued fiberglass-reinforced polyester to come together to form the final shape after several years of research, testing, abandoned projects, and continuous prototype development. A series of production cycles followed, some in limited editions (150 pieces) and others in series, but none of these proved to live up to the expectations and prestige of the brand. Thus, in 1979, the Panton Chair was withdrawn from the market.
Nonetheless, interest in the Panton Chair persisted throughout time, and Vitra and Panton decided to pick up the project once more in the 1990s with a new polypropylene version:a material that was the result of new injection molding alternatives and ongoing improvements in plastics technology. And finally, one of Panton’s main objectives— the plastic chair becoming an affordable industrial product — was eventually accomplished thirty years after the initial market debut.
The chair was officially unveiled in 1999, just after Verner Panton passed away.
One design that becomes four (and more).
The Panton Chair has a curved shape that makes it look more like a still image of undulating motion than a chair. It was the first chair in design history to be made entirely of plastic and to lack back legs, and today it is available in:
- Panton Chair, the “standard” flagship product and best seller of the entire Vitra catalogue;
- the chair’s original design with a glossy lacquer finish, named ad the Panton Classic Chair;
- the limited-edition Panton Chair Duo, a global homage to the work of Verner Panton, who employed color as a technique to enhance shapes, patterns, and emotions. It is available in five distinct color combinations that pay homage to the renowned Fantasy Landscape that Verner Panton designed in 1970 for the Visiona 2 project in Cologne;
- exactly like the original as regards material and shape, the Panton Chair Junior is just a bit smaller than the full-size one. Cute(r) yet equally iconic, it is perfect for your baby design lovers;
- Added bonus – for those who can’t get enough of the Panton series, here is the museum piece, specifically the Vitra Design Museum one: the 5 Miniatures Panton Chairs set. Ideal as a gift, for yourself and/or your loved ones.
Need more?
It is an icon, it is durable, it is comfortable, it is colored, it is available in many different variants. Then, it is perfect to be placed both in indoor and outdoor settings, and it may be used independently or in groups.
What are you waiting for? Contact us and chose your Panton Chair!
Meanwhile, discover our selection of 10 design chairs here.
