Verner Panton’s iconic Panthella MINI shines bright in new chrome finish

In 1971, Verner Panton joined hands with Louis Poulsen to develop a lamp that would become an icon: the domed Panthella, designed to shape light and gently illuminate its surroundings to create an ideal ambience. Demand for the organic, elegant form has since only grown, prompting Louis Poulsen to develop the Panthella MINI in 2016 to allow the sculptural shape to fit smaller spaces. Now, to fully bring Panton’s original vision of a metal Panthella to life, Louis Poulsen is releasing the compact Panthella MINI in a chrome finish.

The new chrome Panthella MINI was inspired by the chrome finish Panton himself selected for the original table and floor versions of the Panthella design. Like the colour versions of the Panthella MINI released in 2016, the chrome Panthella MINI shade is also made of metal. As the chrome mirrors and playfully distorts its surroundings, the Panthella MINI becomes an even more integral part of a given space, enriching and enlivening any interior.

“When Verner Panton originally developed the Panthella lamp with Louis Poulsen in 1971, he wanted the design to have a metal shade, which was technologically impossible at the time,” says Rasmus Markholt, Design Manager at Louis Poulsen. “In 2016, we were able to make his vision a reality when we first launched the Panthella MINI with metal shades painted in bold colours from Panton’s own palette. Now, working closely with the Panton family, we have pushed Panton’s vision even further with an actual metallised finish. So the design retains its iconic form, but also gains an entirely new expression and becomes engaged in conversation with everything and everyone around it.”

The Panthella MINI provides adjustable, high-quality light with built-in-LED technology. Stepless dimming offers easy adjustability from 15 to 100%, and the light can be set to turn on at the desired brightness level. The light also features a timer that can be set to turn the lamp off after 4 or 8 hours.

Its smaller format, with a compact 250 mm diameter and 335 mm height, makes for easy placement on window sills, shelves, tables or other limited surfaces. The new shades are white on the inside and direct the light downwards, where it is reflected up and out into the room from the trumpet-shaped foot.

The chrome Panthella MINI will be available in March 2018.

Unconventional by design: the Verner Panton heritage

Verner Panton (1926-1998) is famous for his inspiring and colourful designs and persona. A unique individual with an extraordinary sense of colour, shape, light function and space, Panton introduced a series of modern lamps with personalities unlike any created by his Scandinavian contemporaries.

While most Danish architects and designers in the 1950s and 1960s were working with wood and other natural materials, Verner Panton’s predilection for new materials saw him develop into a specialist in steel, plastic, plexiglass and fibreglass. His design work with synthetic materials was trail-blazing, and he was a pioneer in the field of designs that use circles and rounded shapes before they became mainstream style under the banner of ‘organic design’.