Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen, an architect by training, is most known for a line of lighting fixtures that he created as a result of his curiosity with the electric light bulb, a brand-new invention at the time. One of these chandeliers took home the top honor for contemporary lighting at the 1925 Paris International Exposition of Decorative Arts. Louis Poulsen & Co. in Copenhagen began producing it the following year, and since then there has been an ongoing demand for it on a global scale.

Henningsen intended to mimic the gentle gas illumination of his boyhood with his electric fixtures because he spent his early years in a tiny Danish village without electricity. His now-famous PH Lamp design, which consists of concentric tiers of reflecting painted metal bands, was painstakingly based on a functional analysis of a lamp shade. The size, shape, and placement of the shades were chosen to achieve the desired light dispersion and glare reduction. Within a few years of its debut, the PH Lamp was being utilized in prestigious institutions and residences throughout Scandinavia. Variations of the PH Lamp design were made to meet varied functions and settings.

Long after these early successes, Henningsen continued to design with Louis Poulsen, and in 1958 he created still another classic: the imposing Artichoke Lamp. Similar to the multilayered shadow, the artichoke uses components resembling leaves to assemble its structure. The Artichoke offers dramatic mood lighting befitting of fine commercial settings and bigger residential rooms thanks to its great stature.

The fact that a collection of lighting fixtures created using scientific principles can emanate such warmth, grace, and character is a tribute to the Nordic aesthetic and Henningsen’s brilliance.