1944-1946-Verner Panton`s days as a soldier
Panton did his military service in Odense
Panton did his military service (until 1946) at the same time as he was attending the Technical College in Odense (1944 - 47). In the last year of the war he had to go into hiding because he had joined a student group which was resisting the German occupation of Denmark. Between 1947 and 1951 he studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
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1926
born on 13 February in Brahesborg-Gamtofte on the island of Fünen, Denmark
1944-1945
Panton carries out his military service in Odense.
1944-1947
He attends the Technical University of Odense.
1947-1951
Architectural studies at the Royal Academy of the Arts, Copenhagen.
1950
Marriage to Tove Kemp, the step-daughter of designer Poul Henningsen. The marriage is short-lived.
1950-1952
Works for the renowned Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen.
1953
On a number of extensive trips through Europe in a VW van converted to a mobile draughtsman's office he immerses himself in the international design world and establishes contacts with colleagues, manufacturers and dealers. The result is a large number of architectural projects and furniture designs.
1955
The prestigious Danish furniture manufacturer Fritz Hansen launches the first series production of furniture by Panton, the Bachelor Chair.
1955
Fritz Hansen also produces the first series of the Tivoli Chair
1956
Panton participates in a furniture competition initiated by the WK/WKS group. Many of the models for his later series are based on these designs.
1957
A prefabricated weekend house designed by Panton, which can if required also be used as a garage, is produced as a small series.
1958
Panton creates a sensation with the extension and redesign of his parents' inn, Kom-igen in the Langesø Park on the island of Fünen, for which he also designed the Cone Chair.
1959
Start of the cooperation with the Danish firms of Plus-Linje (Cone Chair series furniture), Unika Væv (textiles) and Louis Poulsen (lighting).
1960
Design of the Astoria hotel restaurant in Trondheim, Norway.
Panton designs the first inflatable seating elements made of transparent plastic
in furniture history.
1961
Panton presents his furniture, textiles and lamps in the legendary black book of the design magazine Mobilia and in the Pfister furniture showrooms in Zurich.
1962
In Teneriff he gets to know Marianne Pherson-Oertenheim. He resides in Cannes for a short time.
1963
His move to Basle sees the beginning of his cooperation with Herman Miller/Vitra. Panton receives the International Design Award, USA (an award which he receives once more in 1986 and 1981).
1964
He marries Marianne in Basle and his Shell Lamps are shown for the first time at the Lüber stand at the Cologne Furniture Fair, where his Flying Chairs create a major sensation.
1965
1965
In the form of the S Chair (Model 275) by Panton the first cantilever chair made of moulded plywood is produced by Thonet.
1965/66
Design of a modular furniture system made of foam plastic sections, which is manufactured from 1976 by Kill, Metzeler and sold by the Kaufhof chain.
1967
The Danish design magazine Mobilia presents the Panton Chair to the public for the first time. Panton is awarded Denmark's PH Prize.
1968
Design of the exhibition on the Dralon ship (later renamed Visiona 0) for Bayer on the occasion of the Cologne Furniture Fair. The Flower Pot lamp is produced. Panton is awarded Italy's Eurodomus 2 prize. Design for the offices of the Spiegel publishing house. The Living Tower is presented at a joint exhibition with Charles Eames, Joe Colombo and others at the Louvre in Paris. Panton receives the Medal od Austria's Bauzentrum.
1969
For the Spiegelverlagshaus, which moved into the modernized premises in 1969 in Hamburg’s Ost-West Street, Panton designed the entrance area with courtyard and lobby, the canteen and the bar areas, the swimming pool for the employees in the basement of the building, the rooms for the editorial conferences and the lounges, as well as the colour schemes for the hallways of the administration or editorial highrise buildings.
1970
Design of the Visiona 2 exhibition for Bayer on the occasion of the Cologne Furniture Fair, where the first Mira X collection is also on show.
Redesign of restaurant Varna in Århaus
1972
The Pantons move to a villa in Basle Binningen where he designs a room-high live-in sculpture.
1973
Panton is awarded Germany's «Gute Form» prize.
1974
Design of the Gruner & Jahr publishing offices in Hamburg.
1977
Fritz Hansen produces the System 1-2-3 seating programme.
1978
Louis Poulsen launches the VP Europa lighting range.
1979
Panton receives Denmark's Møbelprisen. At the international Swiss Furniture Fair in Basle a special exhibition Pantorama is presented in his honour.
1981-1984
Panton receives Germany's 'Deutsche Auswahl' prize five times.
1984
The circus building in Copenhagen is renovated on the basis of a colour design by Panton. He becomes a visiting professor at the Offenbach College of Design.
1986
Panton receives Denmark's Sadolin-Farve prize and Germany's «Gute Form» award.
1990
The Panton Chair is relaunched by Vitra, which is the occasion for famous designer colleagues to present their Hommage à Panton.
1991
Panton is awarded Denmark's Dansk Designgråd Årspris prize.
1992
He receives Norway's design prize.
1994
For Ikea he designs the Vilbert chair.
1995
Start of the collaboration with VS-Möbel.
1996
Panton designs a colour space installation "Farbräume" for Gallerie Littmann in Basle.
1997
Panton receives a commission to design the Erco offices in London.
1998
For his life's work the Queen of Denmark awards Panton the knight's cross of the Dannebrog order. In the form of the Panto-Pop and the multi-functional Phantom furniture Innovation Randers produces modified re-editions of two designs originally developed for the Visiona 2 exhibition. On 5 September Panton dies in Copenhagen at the age of 72. Light and Colours, the last exhibition to be designed by Panton, opens at the Trapholt Museum in Kolding on 17 September.
2000
Verner Panton's extraordinarily comprehensive and diverse oeuvre, to which the Vitra Design Museum now dedicates an extensive Retrospektive, is with justification regarded as a major contribution to the development of design in the second half of the twentieth century.
2012
Weil am Rhein honours Verner Panton with own streetname