Click on a the small photos or the '<<' or '>>' to 'flip' through them. Click the large photo to see the full size version.
photo 19 of 19
<<
>>
The Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen, 1956
The Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen, 1956
The Panton Chair by Verner Panton, 1959
The Panton Chair by Verner Panton, 1959
Inspired by Pop Art and Pop Culture, 1960 furniture design broke with the purism
of modern functionalism. The use of new materials liberated furniture from the constraints
of traditional structures and made it possible for designers to play imaginatively
with form and color.

At international furniture exhibitions, designers like Verner Panton presented futuristic-looking
interior landscapes to go with a free and easy, hedonistic lifestyle. Verner Panton
wrote of his works: "I try to forget existing examples, even if they are well made,
and find my own way of coming to terms with the materials. The result seldom has
four legs, not because I do not want to make a chair but because working with new
materials like wire mesh and polyester demands new forms."

The Panton Chair is regarded today as one of the classics of modern furniture design.
It was the first chair in design history to have no back legs and be moulded in one
piece entirely out of plastic. It took nearly 12 years of development work before
the idea could be put into practice.

tagged with: art design furniture

Continue on to
July 2024