Verner Panton was a Danish designer that stood out among his contemporaries; he steerd away from Danish craft and spurred a new Pop Aesthetic in the 60s. His works went beyond traditional understandings of space and form. His most prolific design is the Panton chair from 1968 that is still in Vitra's collection today. This sinuous form reminiscent of the female curves was revolutionary in its day for being a single, cantilevered piece of plastic.
What inspires me about Panton is his imaginative, immersive environments. As he cultivated his style as a designer he became more fascinated with "total environments". He strove to counteract the stale formula designers brought to interiors and break the monotony of the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. As he states, "I can't bear to enter a room and see the sofa and coffee table and two chairs, immediately knowing that we are going to be stuck here for an entire evening. I made furniture that could be raised and lowered in space so that one could have a different view of surroundings and a new angle on life."
Vernon's landscapes explored three dimension with form, color, and light and created dynamic energy and movement in space. While the Pop aesthetic could not sustain itself through the centuries, his work is still admired and respected for pushing boundaries and changing perceptions of environments and the bodies that interact with them.
Images from Vernon's Phantasy Landscape, 1970
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