Icon: Poul Henningsen
Poul Henningsen (1894-1967) was born in Ordrup, Denmark, he trained as an architect at the Danish College of Technology in Copenhagen. Finding the style of traditional lighting designs to be insufficient for his interiors he began designing his own solutions. He was depressed by “how dismal people’s homes are,” and realised that “electric light gave the possibility of wallowing in light.” Henningsen was evangelistic towards the development of modern lighting.
His two most successful designs the “PH lamp,” designed in 1924 and the “Artichoke” have become icons of modern design.
The “PH” lamp, also callled the “Paris” lamp because of its award winning appearance at the Paris World Exhibition incorporates tiers of shades, allowing the user to direct light in several different directions without exposing the light source. The Artichoke is considered to be a classical masterpiece designed by Poul Henningsen more than 40 years ago. The structure is made of twelve steel arches. On this structure he placed 72 copper “leaves” in twelve circular rows with six blades in each row. Because each row is staggered from the previous, all 72 leaves are able to “cover for each other”.
Poul Henningsen Biography
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