VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM PRESENTS VERNER PANTON: FORM, COLOUR, SPACE

Images courtesy of Vitra Design Museum

On View From 23 May 2026 To 9 May 2027 At Vitra Schaudepot, Weil am Rhein, Germany

As contemporary interiors embrace expressive colours and sculptural forms, few designers feel as relevant today as Verner Panton. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Danish designer’s birth, Vitra Design Museum presents Verner Panton: Form, Colour, Space—a major retrospective celebrating one of design’s most visionary figures. On view at Vitra Schaudepot in Weil am Rhein, Germany, the exhibition offers a fresh look at Panton’s lasting influence on how we experience furniture, interiors, and everyday living.

Verner Panton, »Fantasy Landscape«, installation view of the »Visiona II« exhibition, International Furniture Fair Cologne, 1970

Known for transforming interiors into immersive, colour-filled environments, Panton approached design as something to be lived in, not simply observed. Moving beyond traditional Scandinavian aesthetics, he experimented with colour, light, textiles, and unconventional forms to create spaces that felt playful, emotional, and entirely immersive.

Verner Panton, Models for cone chairs and tables, 1958 | Panton Chair, c. 1956-67

Bringing together iconic designs and lesser-known works, the exhibition showcases celebrated pieces including the Panton Chair, Cone Chair, and Flowerpot lamp—objects that continue to inspire contemporary interiors and lifestyle aesthetics. Beyond their sculptural appeal, these works reveal Panton’s futuristic imagination and his belief that design should spark joy and curiosity.

Presented by Magran Living

One of the exhibition’s highlights is a walk-in reconstruction of Fantasy Landscape (1970), Panton’s legendary immersive environment first created for Visiona II. Saturated with bold colours and organic forms, the installation invites visitors into a world where furniture, art, and architecture seamlessly merge—offering a glimpse into Panton’s enduring vision of experiential living.

Carin, Marianne and Verner Panton in the Living Tower, c. 1971 | Marianne Panton seated on the Panton Chair, c. 1970

Structured chronologically, the retrospective traces the evolution of Panton’s practice, from early experimental interiors to ambitious large-scale commissions that merged furniture, lighting, textiles, and architecture into immersive environments. Alongside iconic projects, visitors can discover rarely seen materials from the extensive Verner Panton Archive, offering deeper insight into his creative process and unrealised ideas.

Canteen of the Spiegel publishing house in Hamburg, 1969

More than a celebration of a design legend, Verner Panton: Form, Colour, Space reminds us that interiors can shape how we feel. At a time when personal expression and emotional connection increasingly define contemporary living, Panton’s playful optimism feels just as inspiring today.