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( 1 ) Panton Chair · 37 glacier blue · Verner Panton , 1959/1999 ( 2 ) Metal Side Tables Outdoor · 95 galvanised · Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec , 2004
( 3 ) Panton Chair Classic · 11 white · Verner Panton , 1959 ( 4 ) Potence · 12 deep black powder-coated (smooth) · Jean Prouvé , 1950
The curved silhouette of the Panton Chair has become a familiar sight,
but when Verner Panton first proposed the chair to manufacturers in the
1950s, they all considered it impossible to make. All but Vitra that is, who
believed in the design and took up the challenge with Panton of bringing
it to production. In 1967 the Panton Chair was launched.
As the first all-plastic cantilever chair it was an instant hit and over the
following years, it was continuously upgraded as the quality of plastics
improved. It remained extremely popular until fabrication had to be
discontinued in 1979 when existing chairs threatened to break. Happily,
Vitra was able to resume production in 1990 using a shatterproof
polyurethane and went on to elaborate a version in polypropropylene
with Verner Panton, which was launched in 1999. From start to finish,
the development of the Panton Chair therefore took forty years.
Panton Chair & Panton Chair Classic, Verner Panton, 1959/99
The Panton Chair is available in three different models:
the Panton Chair Classic in rigid polyurethane foam with
a glossy surface, the Panton Chair in polypropylene with
a matt finish and the children’s version, Panton Junior.
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