This coming spring, Louis Poulsen will reintroduce whole-number sizes PH 3/3 and PH 5/5 pendants from the world-renowned Danish designer Poul Henningsen. The whole-number PH pendants enable anyone to enhance the quality of general lighting while expanding possible application areas with these distinct three-shade lamps, designed to hang high.
Poul Henningsen’s celebrated three-shade lamps are all rooted in System PH, which he worked on tirelessly for years, over a century ago. The first lamps to appear in the 1920s were referred to as “whole-number sizes.” Henningsen designed them specifically to emit a flawless and glare-free general illumination when placed high-up in a room. This also gave them a rounder appearance than the more widely-known hybrid sizes that were launched subsequently.
During his lifetime, Henningsen kept developing System PH—creating around 1000 lamps altogether, fulfilling every possible lighting task. In addition to the whole-number sizes, he designed the hybrid sizes (e.g., the PH 3/2 pendant) to hang low and provide ideal lighting and a warm atmosphere.
The mathematical naming of the lamps stems from Henningsen’s rational work with System PH, where the sizes of the shades, their materials, and surfaces could all be combined to create the best lighting for specific tasks. The names refer to fractions based in part on the diameter of the upper shade. The lamp’s top shade paired with the middle shade, lower shade, and bottom bowl were originally developed in the proportions of 3:2:1. These lamps were considered whole-number sizes, like the PH 3/3 and PH 5/5.
The PH 3/3 and 5/5 cover a broad range of applications because they can ideally be placed high-up in a hallway or living room, or at a lower height above a dining table or kitchen counter. Regardless of the height or placement of the pendants, the shades ensure a diffused and comfortable glare-free light, which is characteristic of the reflective System PH. The lighting profile varies slightly from fixture to fixture depending on the materials and surfaces of the shades.
The translucent, triple-layered, mouth-blown, opal glass version of the PH 3/3 creates a warm glow around the pendant, whereas the PH 3/3 and PH 5/5 with matte-black metal shades and white interiors reflect a fine and primarily downward-directed light. The versions that combine a matte-black metal top shade with middle and lower shades in translucent opal glass also produce a warm glow around the pendant. All of the variants include a frosted-glass diffuser that is easy to insert for an even softer light distribution.
The PH 3/3 and PH 5/5 suit classic architectural settings and the most modern surroundings equally well, whether it is a grandiose high-ceilinged space or a small room. These pendants are a perfect choice for private residences as well as retail concept stores, hotels, restaurants, or anywhere that could benefit from premium lighting and a ray of elegance from a modern Danish classic.
The PH 3/3 and PH 5/5 will be available in stores this coming spring.
About Poul Henningsen
Poul Henningsen was born in Copenhagen to the famous Danish writer Agnes Henningsen. He never graduated as an architect but studied at the Technical School in Frederiksberg from 1911–14 and then at the Technical College in Copenhagen from 1914–17. He started out designing traditional functionalistic architecture, but over the years he changed his professional focus to concentrate on lighting, which is what he is most famous for.
Henningsen also expanded professionally into writing, becoming a journalist and an author. For a short period at the beginning of World War II, he was the head architect of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. However, like many other creative people, he was forced to flee Denmark during the German occupation. He soon became an important member of the Danish colony of artists living in Sweden.
Henningsen’s lifelong collaboration with Louis Poulsen began in 1925 and lasted until his death. To this day, Louis Poulsen still benefits from his genius. Henningsen was also the first editor of the company magazine, NYT. Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen, CEO of Louis Poulsen at the time, gave the magazine to Henningsen as a gift when he was terminated from the Danish newspaper for which he worked (the newspaper’s management found his opinions too radical).
Henningsen’s pioneering work on the relationship between light structures, shadows, glare, color reproduction, and humans’ need for light remains the foundation of the lighting theories still practiced by Louis Poulsen.
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 aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lighting fixtures and solutions for both indoor and outdoor applications. 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, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key global suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting. The company has a global presence with showrooms in Copenhagen, Miami, Oslo, Tokyo, Singapore and Dusseldorf.