PH 5 - A revolutionary light from a revolutionary designer

Poul Henningsen was a pioneering expert in lighting theory and its use in interior design. Although he was formally trained as an architect, he is probably best remembered for his work with the lights. His impact on home and office lighting can be seen today.

To get insight into his unique perspective on the electrical lighting, it is helpful to examine his early years. Henningsen was born in 1894 and grew up in a modest but happy home, lit by the soft glow of gaslights instead of electric lighting. This was obviously the norm for small-town without electricity at the turn of the century.

When he began working as an architect he had the opportunity to see and visit many buildings with electric lights. He became frightened and rejection of form and function with these lights. He disliked how they got their surroundings look and feel. He felt that his time lighting appeared to be ugly, hard, brilliant and quite unpleasant to experience.

PH 5-light crown spread and filtered light through his clever positioned lampshade. Henningsen had experimented extensively with the lamp shades to produce the optimum combination of light spread, and minimal glare. The light spread inside the lampshade, and his use of color on the inside of lampshades also helps to soften the whiteness of the light. The end result, minimized the harsh, abrupt contrast between light and dark as we usually see on the edge of normal, globular chandeliers.

One can still today to buy a PH 5 lamp which have been scaled to the ideals of home. One can still marvel at the beauty and the simple elegance of his designs. It is still composed of a series of three reflective screens with a view to both soften and direct the light in a uniform, symmetrical distribution. People love to this day how his PH 5 lamp shades hide the bulb and sends the light down in a way that creates true enlightenment and an atmosphere of relaxed comfort.

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