The System 1-2-3 Lounge Chair, designed by Verner Panton was just relaunched. The design: very seventies indeed.
The Danish architect and designer Verner Panton designed the System 1-2-3 Lounge Chair in 1973 for the Danish furniture producer Verpan.
Panton was originally commissioned to design a furniture collection that combined a series of different functions with the basic requirement of good sitting comfort. He was asked to develop chairs of a simple and natural design that could fit into any environment as a functional element.
Verner Panton, whose passion was to push materials to their limits, spent three years developing his System 1-2-3 series: "I want to design furniture that grows up out of the floor, to turn the furniture into something organic. Which never has four legs."
Verpan rescued Panton’s drawings from the archives of the Verner Panton Estate Basel, Switzerland, and reintroduces two chairs from the 1-2-3 series that was originally comprised of 20 different models with variations in seat height, arm rests and feet.
The chair originally was constructed with a light steel frame upon which the fabric was mounted. For the relaunched version Verpan used foam rubber for increased sitting comfort as well as to ensure a tight and even upholstering.
The name 1-2-3 originally referred to the fact that it came in three versions as a chair without padding to a deluxe version, but with the relaunch, all of the chairs have the same comfortable padding, and only differ in the upholstery options.
Still the "delux"e is held up by Verpan: Each chair comes with a certificate of authenticity, and Panton's signature is stamped into the base.
