Panton chair, a stackable plastic classic - Decoora

The Panton chair is a classic. Designed by Verner Panton in , it was the first plastic chair manufactured in a single piece. Its production began in in collaboration with Vitra, a company in which 50 years later we can still buy this chair in a wide range of colors.

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The Panton chair has received numerous international awards of design and is represented in the collections of many important museums. But in addition to design, the chair offers comfort thanks to the combination of a cantilever-type structure, an anthropomorphic line and a slightly flexible material. Would you like to have this icon of the twentieth century. at home?

Verner Panton, the designer

Verner Panton, born in in Gamtofte, Denmark, studied at the Odense Polytechnic before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen to study architecture. Between and he gained experience working in Arne Jacobsen's studio and in he founded his own architecture and design studio.

Verner Panton had a great influence on the design evolution of the sixties and seventies. The use of color became one of the characteristic features of his work, which included pieces of furniture, lighting and textiles. Pieces made, mainly with enamel or plastic that he turned into a work of art and with which he managed to revolutionize interior design.

The Panton chair: features

The Panton chair is one of the most relevant pieces of modern design and the most popular of the designer Verner Panton. Not only for its aesthetics, but for what the conception of a chair entailed made from a single piece and with a single material, plastic.

Initially the chair was made of a mixture of plastic and fiberglass. Later, its manufacture has evolved and today there are two versions of the Panton chair that are marketed: Panton Classic that Vitra makes in a hard foam with a varnished surface and Panton Chair Standard made entirely of 100% recyclable dyed polypropylene.

This change in materials has allowed, in addition to its interior use, its outdoor use, where it is also suitable. In this regard, however, Vitra advises that although the use of special additives helps to prevent color fading due to ultraviolet radiation, if the chair is exposed to sunlight for a long time, the color could to vary. Or what is the same, that a limited exposure to sunlight is recommended so that it remains unaltered for longer.

If we talk about characteristics that make this chair a practical choice, we must also talk about its stackable condition. An advantage that allows you to save space when they are not used and that will allow you to have a couple of extra chairs to be able to attend all your guests.

Do you want to compare an original Panton chair? You can do it with Vitra, who has owned the rights to the chair since and who commissioned Panton to design the chair. Although you will also find it available in a wide variety of colors and with an affordable price in the "imitation" market.

Decorate with the Pantón chair

The dining room is the quintessential place for the Panton chair in our homes, although thanks to its ergonomic design it is also an excellent choice to consider when decorating a work or waiting area such as the hall in which we usually sit.

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The design of the Panton chair is able to bring an elegant and modern touch to any dining room. It stands out especially, however, in spaces with a rustic character to which its daring design provides an interesting contrast thanks to its pronounced curves, and retro style environments Inspired by the 60s to which the chair belongs.

It is also frequent to find them in children's rooms and corners, for the variety of colors in which it is manufactured. The Panton chair also has a version specially designed for children that preserves its shape and proportions but slightly reduces its size.

And although its use in outdoor spaces have certain limitations as we have explained previously, this chair is increasingly popular to decorate this type of space. Why? Because its ability to be stacked and its ease of cleaning make it very attractive. It is a chair that during the summer you can handle to leave like new and that during the winter you can stack and collect in a minimum space in order to protect them from inclement weather.

The Panton chair is available in neutral colors such as white and black, but also in striking reds, oranges, greens, blues and pinks. The latter colors are especially interesting when we want to incorporate this piece individually into a specific space and draw attention to it.

The Vitra Panton Chairs by Verner Panton

Panton Chair – The First One Piece Chair

The Panton Chair is regarded as the "first chair made of one piece" and is not only one of the most revolutionary furniture designs of the 20th century on account of its fluid dynamics. Initially, the sculptural seating by the Danish designer Verner Panton was made of fibreglass reinforced polyester, however the partially handcrafted production was too expensive and consequently soon switched to the cheaper polyester which, however, could not prevail qualitatively.

The design classic has been distributed since under the name Panton Chair Classic in the original and reliable solid plastic with high gloss finish by Vitra. More recently, Verner Panton authorised a matte finish version in through-dyed polypropylene, which finally allows the best quality at an affordable price. In addition, Vitra developed a child's version of the popular plastic chair in child-friendly colours and proportions, the Panton Junior. But in whatever form - the ergonomic cantilever chair with its unique concave curvature is both a legendary landmark of the s and a modern style guarantor.

The development of the Panton Chair

The Danish designer Verner Panton had the vision of a free-swinging plastic chair at the end of the s: however the idea did not become reality until Vitra founder Willi Fehlbaum became aware of it. Even if initially he saw no way to produce such a cantilever under the given technical conditions. However, Rolf Fehlbaum, Willi's son, and Manfred Diebold, then head of product development at Vitra, persuaded Willi Fehlbaum to give Panton's vision a chance. and after years of research, experimentation and lateral thinking, they had the prototype of a hand-laminated glass-fibre reinforced polyester object, which was used to determine the final shape of the chair. Finally, in , 150 Panton chairs, for which cold-pressed fiberglass-reinforced polyester was used at that time, were produced: the first cantilever chair made of a solid piece of plastic was born.

The Belief in an Idea

While Vitra may have managed to produce Panton's chair, the expensive and elaborate process could not meet the demand for the sensational chair, and so the experiments continued until in an updated version of the Panton Chair made of rigid polyurethane foam went into production, And which could now be produced in larger quantities. Nevertheless, it had to be elaborately reworked manually, and even a later developed thermoplastic material was not satisfactory, as this meant by its nature too many changes of Panton's design and at the same time was not so weather and ageing resistant. Ans so in production was stopped. It was not until that Vitra ventured a new attempt and produced the Panton Chair from unbreakable rigid polyurethane foam - a solution that was now possible thanks to advancing plastics technology. Thus, Panton's dream of a high-quality, industrially manufactured plastic chair finally became reality, even though he died shortly before the chair was presented in . In his name, Vitra continues to produce the Panton Chair and has since produced a series of special editions of the legendary chair.

Panton Chair – the original comes from Vitra

A furniture design is only original if the manufacturer has the permission of the respective designer for the production. This is the legal basis. In the case of the Panton Chair, Vitra not only received express permission from Verner Panton, but co-developed the project: the Danish designer turning to Vitra in the early s because no manufacturer could be found who was able to implement his design. And while Vitra founder Willi Fehlbaum also saw no possibility, his son Rolf accepted the challenge and set about sourcing a suitable material and manufacturing process and, after much experimentation, in the Panton Chair entered production in rigid polyurethane foam. "Without Rolf there would be no Panton Chair", with these words Verner Panton himself made it clear how important and personal the connection between manufacturer and designer can be when it comes to producing an original. As a unique Vitra original, the Panton Chair is also characterised by the fact that over the years the object has been re-worked, always in close cooperation with Verner Panton or Verner Panton's descendants. Today, the Panton Chair is made from lacquered hard foam as the Panton Chair Classic and since as the Panton Chair from through-dyed polypropylene. Thanks to decades of experience, Vitra guarantees the processing of only high-quality raw materials from the EU and stands for the highest quality and authenticity, which is reflected in the extended Vitra warranty for selected design classics.