Scandinavia Design

PH3½-3 Glass pendant – Louis Poulsen

Poul Henningsen, 1920-30

espace client
Fr
panier
En
Louis Poulsen, Danish Design Lighting
Suspension PH3½-3 Verre Louis Poulsen – Poul Henningsen, 1920-30

The PH3 ½-3 Glass Pendant is one of many projects undertaken by Poul Henningsen as part of the development of his lampshade ensemble, a world-renowned concept launched in 1926. Poul Henningsen devoted most of his life to taming electric lighting. He based his lampshade concept on a logarithmic spiral to make optimum use of the light source. He was constantly calculating and testing. 

The shape of the shades in the PH 3 ½-3 Suspension stems from how they were to shape and reflect the light, and the lamp was designed to be glare-free. The white opalised glass shades soften the overall look of the lamp and illuminate its surroundings with perfect, harmonious, glare-free light. The shades are made up of three layers of blown opalised glass, polished on the outside and sandblasted on the inside, to give a soft, even distribution of light.

Suspension PH3½-3 Verre Louis Poulsen – Poul Henningsen, 1920-30
Suspension PH3½-3 Verre Louis Poulsen – Poul Henningsen, 1920-30

PH 3 ½-3 – Glass, chrome

PH 3 ½-3 – Glass, Black metalized

Suspension PH3½-3 Verre Louis Poulsen – Poul Henningsen, 1920-30

PH 3 ½-3 – Glass, Brass metalized

Dimensions Ø33 x H28,8 cm

Shade White opal blown glass
Mounting Longueur du câble 3 m + cache-piton

Weight 1,3 kg

Light source 1 x E27

Class IP20. Electric shock protection Cl. II.

Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen

Born in Copenhagen, Poul Henningsen's mother was the famous Danish actress Agnes Henningsen. He never qualified as an architect, but studied at the Technical School in Frederiksberg (Denmark) from 1911 to 1914, and then at the Technical College in Copenhagen (1914-1917).

He started out practising traditional functionalist architecture, but over the years his professional interests evolved to focus mainly on lighting, which is what he is most famous for. He also branched out into writing, becoming a journalist and author. For a brief period at the start of the Second World War, he was chief architect of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. But like many other creative people, he was forced to flee Denmark during the German occupation, and soon became a vital part of the Danish colony of artists living in Sweden.

His long collaboration with Louis Poulsen began in 1925 and lasted until his death. To this day, Louis Poulsen still benefits from his genius. Poul Henningsen was also the first editor-in-chief of the business magazine "NYT". Louis Poulsen's CEO at the time, Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen, offered PH the magazine because he had been sacked from the Danish newspaper he was working for (his views were too radical).

Poul Henningsen's pioneering work on the relationship between light structures, shadows, glare and colour reproduction, compared with man's need for light, remains the foundation of the lighting theories still practised by Louis Poulsen.