Louis Poulsen is proud to present a stunning new addition to its outdoor lighting collection: the LP Capsule, designed in collaboration with Carsten Fischer of the architecture firm Henning Larsen. Focused on enhancing the urban landscape and how people experience it, the fixture's modern LED design emits the pleasant atmospheric light that's characteristic of Louis Poulsen products while setting new lighting standards for parks, pathways, and squares.
When choosing lighting for urban spaces, architects, municipalities, and electricians must comply with a wide range of requirements and expectations. The lights must provide a sense of security, be robust, and possess the right aesthetic. At the same time, they must often meet a desire for efficient and direct lighting that exploits the full potential of LED technology.
Designed around an LED light source, the LP Capsule post top fulfils all of these criteria while offering the distinctive feature of illuminating the area under the fixture and the fixture itself with direct light. “The light had to be more than a fixture that lights up a path or square,” says Carsten Fischer. “It had to also illuminate itself, and serve as a pleasant and familiar element that adds something to the urban setting – in both its on and off states.” The LP Capsule’s soft luminance, and the natural transition between the light it emits and its dark surroundings, create a desirable atmosphere in urban environments.
A shared approach to light, design, and innovation
Louis Poulsen initiated its collaboration with Henning Larsen in 2015 with the vision of designing a post top that would combine the best of LED technology with Louis Poulsen’s focus on human-centered, glare-free light. The successful partnership evolved out of a shared passion for creating beautiful, atmospheric spaces in which people can thrive. This focus has shaped many of Louis Poulsen’s design collaborations, including those with architects Poul Henningsen, Christian Flindt, and Mads Odgård, whose work also reaches far beyond the design phase, extending to the consideration of how a given lamp will impact and be used within a space.
“Louis Poulsen’s values in relation to light and function dovetail with our approach to design in the studio,” Fischer says of the partnership. “Working and brainstorming alongside Louis Poulsen’s talented engineers and light technicians, who have such deep respect for design, has been an exceptional experience and has enhanced the design in many ways. One example is the refinement of the interface between the two shades. During the development process, this was given a sloping surface, which not only looks better but also better reflects the light in the fixture.”
Rasmus Markholt, Louis Poulsen’s Idea & Design Director, adds, “There is much common ground in the way we think about light, function, and design. We both design from the inside, beginning with the light and the functional aspects and then working towards the design. The similarities in our aesthetics are also clearly visible in the LP Capsule, which exudes simplicity and a clear, unique identity.” “I think we have succeeded in implementing our lighting philosophy of pleasant, friendly lighting in a new type of LED fixture with high-intensity, direct light,” adds Markholt. “By illuminating the fixture head, the light acquires a ‘lighthouse effect,’ helping people see the direction of paths and roads, and safely guiding them through an area instead of just providing downward light that can often only be seen at close range.”
Integrated design elements
Another significant feature of the LP Capsule is the strong integration between its design elements. Many lamps with downwardly directed light are essentially a box with a light source attached to a post. In creating the LP Capsule, the design team spent a lot of time exploring how the lamp head could be fitted gracefully so that it grips the post, rather than simply being attached to it. Viewed from above, one can see that the light consists of two circles – a large round lamp and a smaller round post where the tangents connect the two circles to form a simple, geometric, and harmonious look. The basic idea was to create a cylindrical capsule with the light source inside one cylinder, which is in turn inside a larger opal cylinder. This is the source of the direct downward light, but by creating distance between the inner and outer cylinders, the fixture shines surplus light into the gap. Here, it is reflected, illuminating the outer cylinder, which glows like a halo around the light source in the middle. This reduces glare and provides a smoother transition to the surrounding environment.
With its downwardly directed light, intense glow, and subdued appearance, the LP Capsule beautifully encapsulates the Nordic design tradition and the Scandinavian approach to discreetly lighting urban spaces. Squares and buildings in Scandinavia tend to be less lit than those in other parts of the world, instead they allow the light from homes to illuminate the night. This variation in light levels and the interplay of dark and light on surfaces gives a new richness to how people experience cities.
About Henning Larsen
Henning Larsen is a leading global architectural practice rooted in the Scandinavian architectural tradition – aesthetically, socially, and intellectually. The company bases its work on a firm belief in knowledge, generosity, inspiration, and the rethinking of traditions, developing architectural ideas and solutions that improve everyday life and meet the challenges of tomorrow. Founded in 1959 by architect Henning Larsen, whose name the firm still proudly carries today, Henning Larsen has grown into an international collective of architects and designers who work together to bring the Nordic architectural ethos to a global audience. Henning Larsen’s head office is based in Copenhagen, with worldwide offices allowing the firm to operate globally and act locally.
Henning Larsen challenges, shapes, and changes the physical environment – from cities, urban spaces, and buildings to interior design and components – with the ambition of creating progressive design solutions. Working in a field defined by people, daylight, and space, Henning Larsen designs first and foremost with people in mind, focusing on environmentally friendly, integrated, energy-efficient solutions with a high degree of social responsibility, both in terms of materials and production and the creation of desirable, social, and community-creating spaces.
About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, the 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 solutions aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lights 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 key global suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting fixtures, and has a global presence with dedicated showrooms in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Miami, Oslo, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Düsseldorf.
North American Media Contacts:
Alyssa Young, bde | alyssa@bdeonline.biz | (212) 353-1383
Press release, October 2017