Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967), known as PH, revolutionized lighting design through a scientific and humanistic approach. He developed his iconic three-shade system in 1925–26—a design that diffuses glare-free, soft light by using logarithmic proportions across concentric shades. His long-standing partnership with Louis Poulsen, initiated in 1924, produced more than a hundred models across the PH series, from iconic fixtures like the PH Artichoke and PH 5, to innovative variants like the PH Snowball. Briefly serving as head architect of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen at the start of WWII, Henningsen was forced to flee to Sweden during the German occupation and joined the Danish artistic community in exile. Henningsen's lighting solutions—embodying clarity, comfort, and timeless elegance—remain central to Louis Poulsen’s philosophy. His scientific exploration of light’s emotional and physiological impact laid the groundwork for modern lighting design.