Louis Poulsen PH 5-4 1/2 - designer hanging light

PH 5-4 1/2 designer hanging light with a grandiose light effect

The PH 4-5 1/2 hanging light features a four-part lampshade, with components made of extruded aluminium. Three lampshades serve to direct most of the light downwards; while the trumpet-shaped upper part of the lampshade sends the light upwards and in all directions. The light features a base shell and a diffuser ring, so that it can shine in all directions without glare.

The Danish designer Poul Henningsen focused his lifework on designing lights offering glare-free illumination. After creating the three-lampshade system in 1925/26, in 1931 he created his first light with a four-part lampshade to provide improved lighting in all directions. In the 1940s, this model disappeared from the range of the lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen, with whom Henningsen worked from 1925 until his death in 1967.

In 1979, architects Sophus Frandsen and Ebbe Christensen designed a large model (PH 61/2-6) for the Charlottenborg exhibition space in Copenhagen, and then a smaller version – the PH 5-4 1/2 – was created for the Arhus Musikhus concert building in 1984. They added a small, blue lampshade element to solve the problem of glare. The result was this fantastic PH 5-4 1/2 hanging lamp.