Modern Icons: Vernor Panton's Cone Chairs
Have a heart — or even two or three. With these whimsical and attention-snagging seats, it just might be the more, the merrier
Architect, furniture designer and textile designer Vernor Panton wanted people to fill their lives with color. He studied architecture at The Royal Danish Academy of Art in the late 1940s, where his teacher Pøul Henningsen piqued his interest in product design. Upon graduating he apprenticed under Arne Jacobsen and was part of the team who worked on Jacobsen's iconic Ant Chair. After a few years he took off for his midcentury version of the Grand Tour, traveling around Europe in a VW bus he'd outfitted as a mobile studio.
Branching out on his own, he used new materials in unexpected ways, letting shapes like cones and hearts inspire chair designs. "The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting," he proclaimed. In 1958 he designed the Cone Chair, which led to the Heart Cone Chair a year later. Both made their surroundings more exciting wherever they went, most notably a 1961 New York City window display where the chairs, draped in naked mannequins, literally stopped traffic and were ordered removed by the police. They're still drawing attention today.
Branching out on his own, he used new materials in unexpected ways, letting shapes like cones and hearts inspire chair designs. "The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting," he proclaimed. In 1958 he designed the Cone Chair, which led to the Heart Cone Chair a year later. Both made their surroundings more exciting wherever they went, most notably a 1961 New York City window display where the chairs, draped in naked mannequins, literally stopped traffic and were ordered removed by the police. They're still drawing attention today.
The pop style of this red heart-shaped chair is a natural match for Warhol-inspired lips wallpaper.
Heart Cone Chair by Verner Panton
The chair has a glass-fiber-reinforced shell that is covered in a thin layer of upholstery and topped off with a seat cushion. The base, made of brushed stainless steel, allows it to swivel.
The chair punctuates a gallery-like space, like a heart-shaped exclamation point.
Verner Panton Cone Chair
The Heart Cone Chair is a variation of Panton's original Cone Chair, shown here. Panton designed the first run of hearts for the restaurant his parents owned, The Komigen Inn, in Denmark.
The futuristic, gravity-defying silhouette of the Cone Chair was a breakthrough for Panton, who was moving away from the popular Danish modern aesthetics of his former mentor Jacobsen and his friend Hans Wegner and into the spirit of the space age.
Although it is a statement chair, its easy silhouette means it also works as a versatile chair.
Panton's whimsical designs fell out of favor in the 1970s but are enjoying renewed popularity today. In conjunction with the Panton estate, the German company Vitra has rereleased several of Panton's most striking designs, including the Cone Chair and Heart Cone Chair.
Panton's whimsical designs fell out of favor in the 1970s but are enjoying renewed popularity today. In conjunction with the Panton estate, the German company Vitra has rereleased several of Panton's most striking designs, including the Cone Chair and Heart Cone Chair.