During the 1940s when the Danish architect and designer Vilhelm Lauritzen felt a lamp was needed that was neither a spherical pendant nor a sought-after PH lamp, he laid the groundwork for the VL Ring Crown: a new lamp with a glass shade that was not only neat and glare-free, but also practical.
Louis Poulsen is now bringing back the VL Ring Crown design classic.
The VL Ring Crown is made of untreated, polished brass and comes with three, five or seven shades in glossy white, triple-layered, mouth-blown opal glass. It brings a distinct and authentic touch to stylish interiors worldwide as well as a warm light to softly illuminate contemporary living.
The VL Ring Crown derives from a lamp design made for the old Danish Broadcasting House in Copenhagen in the 1940s. But, while the wall lamp and pendant versions were put to good use at Broadcasting House, the Ring Crown was never to appear there. Not long after, however, a Ring Crown based on the original drawings was launched.
Architect Finn Juhl, who worked for Vilhelm Lauritzen, received the Eckersberg Medallion for his interior design of the flagship store, which he created for Danish porcelain manufacturer Bing & Grøndahl on Amagertorv in Copenhagen in 1947. He used the B & G Ring Crown in this project.
Vilhelm Lauritzen had plenty of orders for the Ring Crown, as he later described to Poul Henningsen in Louis Poulsen’s magazine NYT in 1953:
“It should be easy to dust, not collect dirt at the bottom, not break in one go if damaged, be easy to change the bulb, be as glare-free as possible (without dimming) and be available for downward lighting and for evenly rounded light as needed. And it should look neat,” he wrote.
The VL Ring Crown fully lives up to all expectations. It will be available in stores from September 2019 in wall lamp and pendant versions – also in white opal glass and brass.
About Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894–1984)
Vilhelm Lauritzen is one of the most significant architects in the history of Denmark; he was the trail-blazing figurehead of Danish functionalism. A number of his buildings – Nørrebro Theatre (1931–32), Daells Varehus department store (1928–35), Radiohuset (1936-41) and the first airport built in Kastrup (1937–39) – represented the concentrated essence of contemporary life.
Other significant buildings to stem from Lauritzen’s drawing board include Folkets Hus (1953–56) better known today as the Vega concert venue, the Shellhuset (1950–51) building and the Danish embassy in Washington (1958–60). In particular the Radiohuset building and the earliest version of Kastrup Airport – both listed today – are considered peerless monuments to modernism in the European genre of construction.
About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen creates products that encompass the duality of design and light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light. Louis Poulsen offers a range of lighting aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lighting fixtures and solutions for both indoor and outdoor applications. In close partnership with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato, and GamFratesi, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the world's key suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting and has a global presence with dedicated showrooms in Copenhagen, Singapore, Stockholm, Miami, Oslo, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Dusseldorf.
Press release, August 2019