As one of the most recognisable lights in the world, the PH5 pendant lamp is a staple of the Louis Poulsen brand. The 150 year old lighting manufacturer has worked with a wide variety of designers from Arne Jacobsen to Oki Sato, but it is the brands collaboration with designer Poul Henningsen that lead to the brands most iconic lamp and range of lighting.
A combination of beauty and science, the PH5 pendant lamp has stared in countless movies, magazines and adverts. The unique design of the lamp continues to inspire designers to this day and is the standard to which every lighting designer and manufacturer aspires.
The beauty of the iconic PH5 pendant lamp cleverly uses the light that it gives off to highlight its own exceptional form. Made up of five shades, the PH5 pendant manipulates light in order to distribute it more evenly. Using the careful arrangement of four shades of differing size, shapes and angles, the PH5 pendant lamp provides glare-free downlight as well as diffused lateral light to effectively illuminate itself, forming the basis of an unchanged design that has remained consistently popular for over six decades.
The PH5 began life as an experiment in order to provide a glare-free light as close to natural light as possible. The new light bulbs of the time emitted an unflattering harsh incandescent light that Henningsen wanted to disperse in favour of a more flattering glow.
