In 2020, Louis Poulsen extends its PH Artichoke series with a version in black. The pendant’s perfect matt black finish consolidates a bold look for those wanting interiors with an edge without compromising on either design or quality of light.
The particular form and workmanship of PH Artichoke ensures completely glare-free light no matter from which angle it is viewed. This was the brief in 1958 when Poul Henningsen was commissioned to design a pendant for the Langelinie Pavilion, a modernist restaurant in Copenhagen, where the pendant continues to enchant guests. Today, it is regarded as a design icon, internationally.
PH Artichoke’s refined lighting is due to the 72 carefully placed leaves, which have also inspired the name of the pendant. The pendant continues to be partly assembled by hand to ensure high quality. After all, it’s the leaves that define the exceptional design of this pendant.
And yes, it is true, that a PH Artichoke requires space. However, the pendant also expresses an equally elegant and strong look as well as giving invaluably perfect lighting, providing any space with a very special ambience. Still, sometimes a little extra is required – and this is exactly what the new black version of the PH Artichoke delivers.
The PH Artichoke in black has a matt surface and the black suspension cord and fixtures complete the look from above. The underside of the matt black leaves is white to ensure that the light is reflected perfectly. The PH Artichoke in black comes with LED bulbs in all of the four sizes (Ø480, Ø600, Ø720, Ø840) and will be available in stores from February 2020.
About Poul Henningsen
Poul Henningsen was born in Copenhagen by the famous Danish actress Agnes Henningsen. He never graduated as an architect, but studied at The Technical School at Frederiksberg, Denmark from 1911-14, and then at Technical College in Copenhagen from 1914-17. He started practicing traditional functionalistic architecture, but over the years his professional interests changed to focus mainly on lighting, which is what he is most famous for.
He also expanded his field of occupation into areas of writing, becoming a journalist and an author. For a short period at the beginning of WWII, he was the head architect of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. But like many other creative people, he was forced to flee Denmark during the German occupation but soon became a vital part of the Danish colony of artists living in Sweden.
His lifelong collaboration with Louis Poulsen began in 1925 and lasted until his death. To this day, Louis Poulsen still benefits from his genius. Poul Henningsen was also the first editor of the company magazine “NYT”. The CEO of Louis Poulsen at the time, Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen, gave the magazine to PH as a gift because he had been terminated from the Danish newspaper he worked for (his opinions were too radical).
Poul Henningsen's pioneering work concerning the relations between light structures, shadows, glare, and color reproduction—compared to man’s need for light remains the fondation of the lighting theories still practiced by Louis Poulsen.
About Louis Poulsen
In 1924, Poul Henningsen created his influential Paris lamp for Louis Poulsen, and the origin of how we still design to shape light can directly be traced back to his views on the dualities of design and light.
Founded in 1874, Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer born out of the Scandinavian design tradition where form follows function. The function and design of our products are tailored to reflect and support the rhythm of natural light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light.
We believe in passionate craftsmanship that produces quality lighting and design products that are pleasing to the eye and to the light.
In close partnership with designers, architects and other talents like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato and Louise Campbell, we have established ourselves as one of the key global suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting. Defying traditional product categories, our products serve and span the professional and private lighting markets for both indoor and outdoor applications.
Our means are simple and beautiful design. Our purpose is to create an attractive ambience that affects people and spaces.
We design to shape light.