New Louis Poulsen PH5 - Pastels

About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer born out of the Scandinavian design tradition where form follows function. The function and design of their products are tailored to reflect and support the rhythm of natural light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light.

Louis Poulsen and Poul Henningsen
Influential Danish designer, Poul Henningsen designed his first lamps in 1926 for an exhibition in Paris. His work with Louis Poulsen continued right up until his death in 1967.  Henningsen did not just design a lamp, but an entire system – around a thousand different models have been produced over the years.

Throughout his life, he sought to create glare-free, direct light where it was most needed, and create soft shadows, using incandescent bulbs as a light source.  

PH5 Pastels
Poul Henningsen developed the PH 5 in 1958 in response to constant changes made to the shape and size of incandescent bulbs.  Henningsen wanted to improve the colour reproduction characteristics of the light source in the PH 5. Small red and blue shades were therefore inserted to supplement the colour in the part of the spectrum where the eye is least sensitive – the red and blue areas – thereby subduing the light in the middle yellow-green region where the eye is most sensitive.

 

Today the coloured rings are no longer necessary as light sources reproduce daylight far better than in Henningsen’s time however PH5 is glare-free, irrespective of how the light is installed continues to elevate even the most modern interiors.

In 2022, the PH 5 Pastels series is introduced it features both monochrome pastel colours Oyster Grey and Pale Rose, and two combinations of pastels, which reflect modern interior trends; Oyster Grey, Blue, and Pale Rose, and Blue, Pale Rose and Peach.  These restful and comforting pastel colours are a perfect complement for the simple silhouettes and lines of modern Scandinavian design.