Poul Henningsen

1894 - 1967

Poul Henningsen

Designer and architect Poul Henningsen, known by his initials ”PH”, was born in Copenhagen in 1894, the illegitimate son of satirical novelist Carl Ewald and feminist activist and writer Agnes Henningsen. He studied at the Frederiksberg Technical School from 1911 to 1914, and then at the Copenhagen Technical College until 1917. Early on in his career, he worked as both an architect and a journalist, but quickly became fascinated by lighting design, inspired by the then-new technology of the electric light bulb. He approached lighting from a scientific standpoint, investigating the impact that soft, diffused light had on one’s wellbeing. He is the legendary creator of the lighting series carrying his name. He can be said to be the world’s first lighting architect.

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In 1925, Henningsen began what would become a lifelong collaboration with Copenhagen-based lighting company Louis Poulsen, for whom he produced over one hundred lamps, all belonging to the PH series, and all based on the idea of multiple shades and diffusors to provide warm, soft light. The co-operation resulted in production of a complete lighting program that included the anti-dazzle PH-lamps that won him a gold medal at the World Expo in Paris in 1925. The principle of the original PH-lamp was later modified, resulting in the PH-5 lamp (1956) and the cone (1957).

Poul Henningsen’s designs are to be found in numerous official buildings from banks, museums, hotels and sport arenas to home interiors in Denmark and world wide. 

Among his best known works are the 1958 PH Snowball, a pendant lamp with eight aluminum shades, and the 1957 PH Artichoke lamp, a pendant lamp with a bulb surrounded by scale-like reflectors—both iconic examples of Scandinavian modernist design. Henningsen's work can be found in major museum collections around the world, including MoMA, Vitra, and the V&A.