Renowned Danish designer Jakob Wagner’s new Ripls luminaire joins the Louis Poulsen collection, bringing with it a multi-dimensional lighting experience while providing excellent general lighting.
The round wall and ceiling fixture, which emits diffused light, features a concave, clear front that is shaped like ripples of water. The ripples refract light in the front, creating a subtle change in appearance depending on the viewing angle.
“There is something entrancing about watching the ripples that transform the water’s surface after an object has dropped in, and we wanted to capture that moment in time – while using the undulating, concentric forms to shape the light coming from within,” explains Jakob Wagner. “Just as ripples add dimensionality to still waters, the ripple shape rendered in glass adds dimensionality to the light, making Ripls an unusually engaging, dynamic, yet also soothing light source.”
“The ingenuity of Wagner’s design is that it is at once ultra-simple – yet constantly changing as you move past it,” says Rasmus Markholt, Idea & Design Director, at Louis Poulsen. “He has succeeded in creating a design that offers a multi-dimensional experience; one can say, in other words, that the lamp is designed at several levels. Immediately and from a distance, it is just an opal, round lamp – a luminous disc. It is absolutely minimal and there can be 50 of them in a room without attracting much attention. But upon approaching, you see concentric waves catching the light and making their own refractions in an ever-changing way. And if you happen to touch the surface, you are surprised to realize that the exterior is smooth – the ripples reside within, creating a bit of magic.”
The Ripls’ disc-shaped, concave form results in higher-intensity light in the center that fades toward the edges. An offset diffuser sits deep within the fixture, creating a sense of depth when viewed from the front. The housing creates the appearance of a floating disc, while perforations in the opaque housing allow indirect light to create a halo around the fixture. The overall effect is deep, glowing, and playful, with just the right balance of impact and subtlety to fit primly into any architectural space.
Ripls is particularly well-suited for corridors, stairwells, and entrance areas, and is an ideal source of general lighting for small office spaces and meeting rooms.
A workhorse design with many extra features, the Ripls luminaire emits diffused light and comes in two diameters, 310 mm and 500 mm. It is available for all markets, with 3000K as standard. It is offered in clear reflective, white opal, and satin matte white options.
About Jakob Wagner
Jakob Wagner’s simple yet sophisticated work expresses the essence of a product in a minimalist, poetic, and playful manner. His design process is detailed and considers all angles of the user experience, which results in timeless, well-balanced design. Born in Copenhagen in 1963, Wagner earned a B.Sc. in Design Engineering at DIA-M in Denmark (1987) and completed his second degree in Product Design at Art Center, Switzerland (1992). In 1993, following internships and studies in the United States, Italy, and France, he founded Jakob Wagner Studio in Copenhagen.
The studio began by focusing on high-tech products for medical, professional, and sports applications, and later on home products. This led to product lines for Alessi, Bang & Olufsen, Menu, Muuto, and Stelton, and furniture projects for Cappellini, B&B Italia, Moroso, and Hay, among others.
Jakob’s work has been exhibited internationally and has received numerous awards (six iF Awards, three Red Dot Awards, Bundespreis, Designer of the Year), it is also part of the permanent exhibition at MoMA in New York.
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 Dusseldorf.
North American Media Contacts:
Alyssa Young, bde | alyssa@bdeonline.biz | (212) 353-1383
Press release, October 2017