Louis Poulsen introduces seven new chrome and black metallised designs to the PH glass family. The extensions include both new PH 2/1 and PH 3½-2½ lamps with white opal glass and a chrome or black metallized base. The industrial look of the dark metal offers a bold, understated appearance. The mouth-blown white opal glass shades soften the overall look of the lamp and illuminate its surroundings with a perfect, harmonious and glare-free light that only the classic three-shade system is capable of emitting. The shades are mouth-blown three-layer opal glass, which is glossy on top and sandblasted matte underneath to provide soft and uniform light distribution.
PH 2/1 was introduced in 1926. The PH model numbers refer to the shade size. Each top shade has a corresponding set of middle and lower shades. In the original models, such as the 2/2, the top shade had a width of about 7.9” with corresponding lower shades. The PH 2/1 consists of a top shade measuring ap-proximately 7.9”, but uses lower shades from the 1/1 model to give it a dynamic outline.
PH 3½-2½ was designed in 1928 and is one of many advanced projects undertaken by Poul Henningsen in the development of his world-famous three-shade system. Poul Henningsen devoted most of his life to taming electric light. He based his three-shade design on a logarithmic spiral to make optimum use of the light source. He was constantly doing calculations and tests. The form of the shades was determined by the way they were required to shape and reflect the light, and the lamp was designed to be glare-free.
Louis Poulsen put the three-shade lamp into production and is now promoting PH’s new mind-set of creating designs to shape light – glare-free light to make both homes and people more beautiful.
The seven new editions to the chrome and black metal PH family will be available from February 2017.
Poul Henningsen (1894-1967) was born in Copenhagen to the famous Danish authoress Agnes Henningsen. He never completed his degree in Architecture, but studied at Copenhagen Technical College in Frederiksberg from 1911-1914 and then for three years at the Technical University in Copenhagen.
Poul Henningsen originally practiced traditional functionalist architecture, but over the years, he began to focus mainly on lighting. His lighting designs have also left the greatest mark on posterity and made him world-famous. In addition to being a designer, he began to write and became a journalist and writer known for his radical opinions. He was an architect in Tivoli in Copenhagen for a period at the start of World War II. However, like so many other creative personalities, he had to flee Denmark to Sweden during the German occupation and soon became an important part of the Danish colony of architects and artists in Stock-holm.
His lifelong partnership with Louis Poulsen began back in 1924. PH’s pioneering ideas in the field of lighting theory – on structure, shadow, glare and color re-production – are still being practiced at Louis Poulsen today.
Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer, founded in 1874. Through close cooperation with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen, Øivind Slaatto, nendo (Oki Sato), Shoichi Uchiyama, Louise Campbell and many others, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural lighting in the world market. The company offers a range of lighting aimed at both the professional and home lighting markets.
There is a story behind every Louis Poulsen product. These are products whose designers focus on light itself and the idea behind the product as well as on the refinement of an architect’s, light designer’s or furnishing designer’s ideas and visions about light – all in harmony with Louis Poulsen’s own lighting philosophy, design to shape light.
Alyssa Young, bde | alyssa@bdeonline.biz | (212) 353-1383
February, 2017