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Photos courtesy Peter Danko
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Photos courtesy Peter Danko
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Photos courtesy Peter Danko
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Photos courtesy Peter Danko
Growing up, Peter Danko assumed everyone thought like he did. Then, in college, he whizzed through “the dumbest visual test,” one most students struggled to complete. That’s when he realized his thought process, the way he saw things three-dimensionally, was uncommon. For Danko, seeing beyond what’s there, imagining what can be, and then bringing it to life is, he says, “My bliss.”
It takes him about a year to design something through a process of trial, logic, error, and then trial again. If necessary, repeat. He doesn’t find any “soul” in making ordinary things, always wanting to craft something new, to go beyond tradition.
It’s what makes Peter Danko, Peter Danko. In his inventing/manufacturing/testing space in York, PA, he designs iconic pieces, like sleek, graceful chairs; ultra-contemporary cabinetry; and designer shelving, often using unexpected materials, like truck seat belts. His most recent project was building his own edging machine. This was, he says, because he needed one and it didn’t yet exist, as in, nowhere in the world did it exist. This sort of challenge lights up Danko’s eyes, as does reimagining how things work.
Take cabinet doors. “Typically, they’re heavy, they’re static, and they’re not sustainable,” he explains. He employs his patented magnetic hinge so you can easily pull the lightweight doors off (with only your hands), flip them, reverse them, or leave them off altogether. Both doors and drawers are executed using a translucent, wavy layer of polypropylene, designed to be lit from behind. They weigh less than half what traditional cabinets weigh.
Danko calls polypropylene “an honest material,” one that doesn’t contain a mess of toxic additives. He’s is pumped about this new application of the material, “because it embodies all of my design philosophies, including being extremely green.”
Testing the Limits
As he works with a material, he investigates its properties to see what kind of punishment it can take, what shape it can become, and how long and how well it will last. When applying a decorative decal over the polypropylene before he incorporated it into a piece of furniture, Danko friction-tested it 100,000 times.
He refined his chair design for ultimate comfort in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. He began by asking scores of people of all sizes and shapes off the street to sit in several prototypes, then created a form that would be optimal for most people. (This means, Danko at 6’4”, is less comfortable in his chairs than the average person is.) He believes comfort must be balanced with simplicity, function, sustainability, and beauty. Hitting this mark, for him, is a 10. “I think it’s our jobs as humans to push the boundary of beauty further using materials that aren’t fully explored,” he observes. “I like discovering a new dimension in aesthetics and pursuing it.”
Out into the Universe
You can find Danko’s designs made in York, PA, in the Smithsonian, at a Vice President’s house, and at MOMA in Manhattan, but you can also find them locally, in the lobby of Creative York and in The Handsome Cab’s bar. His Green Belt Chairs star at Wake Forest University, which orders 200 to 300 of them every time they add a new dormitory or cafeteria. Mostly, though, his pieces are incorporated into the work of interior designers and architects. Regardless of where you see them, Danko notes, “You won’t see the nuts or bolts; you’ll just see the chair, and it will look like it always existed.”
Some of these functional works of art might remind you of Mid-century modern forms. He says it’s one of his “points of departure,” explaining, “It’s a wonderful style, combining the best attributes of ergonomics and design and mass production and materials like fine wood, teak and rosewood, before sustainability was a crucial factor.” His work may be partly inspired by that era, but he focuses on, and forces it into, a more sustainable design. And it’s unmistakably contemporary, for our era and for the future, because these pieces will last.
Danko moved to the York area in 1995 and enjoys his connection to the artistic-cultural movement there. “It’s part of the joy of a small town,” he observes. “You know so many people.” On his wall, covered mainly with his figure drawings, is a rectangle full of small self-portraits by various people, someone’s idea of a guest book for Danko’s birthday celebration. Along with these hints of place are sketches he makes of local musicians. Sitting right up front, he draws to the music, losing himself in the moment and refueling for tomorrow’s inspiration.
So what’s next for Danko? Exploring more cabinetry-making. Why? “Because,” he says, “I can.”
Peter Danko Designs / York, PA / peterdanko.com