VERNER PANTON AT VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM
BACKGROUND: VISIONA 1970 - REVISITING THE FUTURE
February 07,2014 – June 01,2014
VERNER PANTON AT VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM
BACKGROUND: VISIONA 1970 - REVISITING THE FUTURE
February 07,2014 – June 01,2014
From 1968 to 1972, the chemical corporation Bayer rented an
excursion boat that was transformed by well-known designers into a temporary
exhibition space on the subject of contemporary living. Held during the Cologne
Furniture Fair, the forum was used to present the latest developments in
interior textiles, whereby a balanced relationship was sought between
representing various products and presenting several furniture and textile
makers. By collaborating with prominent contemporary designers, the intention
was to complement the technical possibilities and practical uses of Bayer’s
artificial fibers with aesthetic and artistic aspects – with the designer
serving as a link between manufacturer and final consumer. Thanks to Verner
Panton (»Visiona 0«, 1968 and »Visiona 2«, 1970), Joe Colombo (»Visiona 1«,
1969) and Olivier Mourgue (»Visiona 3«, 1971), the »Visiona« exhibitions are
still today considered exemplary for the avant-garde living concepts of the
late 1960s and early 1970s. They offered designers a platform for presenting
new, revolutionary ideas, promoted public debate and the cultural importance of
residential living, and provided the industry with new inspiration. Verner
Panton’s interest in new materials and his experience in the realm of textiles
formed the ideal foundation for his pioneering designs of »Visiona 0« (1968)
and »Visiona 2« (1970). He created dreamlike spaces and space-like dreams in
unusual shapes and colors that stretched across the entire interior of the
boat. While »Visiona 0« could be described as a departure from traditional
styles of living, »Visiona 2« was entirely focused on the question of living in
the world of tomorrow. It broke the traditional understanding of space with its
clear ascription of functions, instead creating surroundings that were
dedicated to well being, communication, and relaxation. For this, Panton
designed numerous design objects, including furniture, textiles, lighting, wall
and ceiling coverings that formed in highly imaginative arrangements a series
of very different spaces. As an integrative component, he developed both a
lighting concept and atmospheric sounds for the individual spaces, like the
song of a nightingale, the cry of an owl, bee humming, cat howls, or waves. The
Phantasy Landscape (also called »living cave«) on the main deck of the
»Loreley« – generally remembered as the most impressive space of »Visiona 2« –
can be considered the climax of Panton’s
creative vision. This room discarded all traditional notions of architecture: the floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture seemed to be created from a single cast. The windowless space lacked any connection to the outside world and presented itself as an organic landscape, characterised by dynamic curved shapes that seemed as though they were cut out of the material itself. The elements in various shades of blue and red were like a multiplication of his famous Living Towers placed after one another: the blue shades on the outside, the red shades increasingly becoming brighter on the inside, so that the psychedelic arrangement appeared to glow from within. While the designs of Panton’s contemporaries often evoked associations with outer space, Panton’s livable sculpture with its warm colors and soft textiles sought to bring the interior life of the human being to an outer form.
creative vision. This room discarded all traditional notions of architecture: the floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture seemed to be created from a single cast. The windowless space lacked any connection to the outside world and presented itself as an organic landscape, characterised by dynamic curved shapes that seemed as though they were cut out of the material itself. The elements in various shades of blue and red were like a multiplication of his famous Living Towers placed after one another: the blue shades on the outside, the red shades increasingly becoming brighter on the inside, so that the psychedelic arrangement appeared to glow from within. While the designs of Panton’s contemporaries often evoked associations with outer space, Panton’s livable sculpture with its warm colors and soft textiles sought to bring the interior life of the human being to an outer form.
PHANTASY LANDSCAPE -
VISIONA 2 - IMM Köln
Möbelmesse / Cologne
Furniture Fair, 1970
© Panton Design,
Basel
PANTON CHAIR 1959
-1960
VP4 FLOWERPOT LAMP
PANTORAMA 1979
PAUL HENNIGSEN
COMPETITION 1964
PANTORAMA 1979
.jpg)
PHANTASY LANDSCAPE -
VISIONA 2 -
IMM Köln Möbelmesse / Cologne
Furniture Fair, 1970
© Panton Design,
Basel
_web.png)
LIVING TOWER 1969
AMOEBE HIGHBACK 1970
AMOEBE 1970
PHANTASY LANSCAPE -
VISIONA 2
Wall elements (1969,
produced by Harlacher)
Cologne Furniture
PENDANT LAMP VP
GLOBE 1969 – 1970
CLOVER LEAF SOFA
PHANTASY LANSCAPE -
VISIONA 2
Spiral lights (1969,
produced by Lübner)
IMM Cologne
Furniture Fair, 1970 © Panton Design, Basel
_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg)
SPIEGEL PUBLISHING
HOUSE 1969
SPIEGEL LAMP 1969-70
PHANTASY LANSCAPE -
VISIONA 2
EXHIBITION
KOEBESTAEVNET 1959
CONE CHAIR 1958
COPENHAGEN CIRCUS
BUILDING 1984
PHANTOM CHAIR
VARNA RESTAURANT 1971
PANTO FOUR 1997
PANTO MOVE LUPO
PANTO STACK 1998
PANTO SWING 2K
PANTO SWING 1994
COMPASS LUPO
HEART CONE CHAIR 1959
COLOGNE FURNITURE
FAIR 1960
WIRE CONE CHAIR 1958
PHANTASY LANSCAPE - VISIONA 2 – 1970
VERNER
PANTON
Verner Panton, born 1926 in Gamtofte, Denmark,
studied at Odense Technical College before enrolling at the Royal Danish
Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen as an architecture student.
He worked from 1950-52 in the architectural firm
of Arne Jacobsen, and founded an independent studio for architecture and design
in 1955. His furniture designs for the firm Plus-linje attracted attention with
their geometric forms. In the following years Panton created numerous designs
for seating furniture and lighting.
His passion for bright colours and geometric
patterns manifested itself in an extensive range of textile designs. By fusing
the elements of a room—floor, walls, ceiling, furnishings, lighting, textiles,
wall panels made of enamel or plastic—into a unified gesamtkunstwerk, Panton's
interior installations have attained legendary status. The most famous examples
are the "Visiona" ship installations for the Cologne Furniture Fair
(1968 and 1970), the Spiegel publishing headquarters in Hamburg (1969) and the
Varna restaurant in Aarhus (1970).
Panton's collaboration with Vitra began in the
early 1960s, when the firm decided to develop what became his best-known
design, the Panton Chair, which was introduced in 1967. This was also the first
independently developed product by Vitra.
Verner Panton died in 1998 in Copenhagen.
Vitra's re-edition of designs by Panton, as well as the retrospective of his
work mounted by the Vitra Design Museum in 2000, bear witness to the special
relationship between Vitra and Verner Panton.
http://www.vitra.com/en-un/corporation/designer/details/97695
.jpg)
