VL45 Radiohus pendant Ø175mm, white – Louis Poulsen

Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894-1984) is one of the most important architects in Danish history, and an emblematic figure of Danish functionalism. A number of his buildings - the Nørrebro theater (1931-1932), the Daells Varehus department store (1928-1935), the Radio House (Radiohuset, 1936-1941) and the first airport built in Kastrup (1937-1939) - represented a concentration of contemporary life. Folkets Hus (1953-1956), better known today as the Vega concert hall, the Shellhuset building (1950-1951), and the Danish Embassy in Washington (1958-1960), are also important buildings from Vilhelm Lauritzen's drawing board. The Radio House and the first version of the Kastrup airport, now listed, are considered leading monuments of the modernist movement in European architecture.

Throughout his life, Vilhelm Lauritzen remained true to the principle that architecture is an applied art, giving equal importance to the “artistic” and the “applied” aspects. “No life without aesthetics” was another of his precepts.

Vilhelm Lauritzen mastered both natural and artificial lighting. He made systematic use of natural light in his architectural designs, including large south- and west-facing openings to intelligently blend warm sunlight with the cooler light from north- and east-facing openings. This approach distracted from the fact that wall space in the room is limited. People, furniture and appliances are highlighted and nuanced in this sculptural light.

Lauritzen's luminaires embody the same idea. They combine a powerful directional beam producing sharp shadows, with a more diffused light that softens and nuances rooms.

The first luminaire designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen saw the light of day between 1926 and 1929 for Fritzsches Glashandel, under the name Universal suspension. As a pure functionalist, Vilhelm Lauritzen devoted his life to the development and improvement of his luminaires. Vilhelm Lauritzen's first luminaires, designed for the Copenhagen Radio House, appeared in Louis Poulsen catalogs in the mid-1940s. In the 1950s, with his major construction projects in full swing, Lauritzen's range expanded to include a vast selection of fixtures.