Although founded in 1874, Louis Poulsen's first foray into lighting design wouldn't come until 1924. That was the year Louis Poulsen--the founder's nephew--having given the company his name, began working with soon-to-be legendary lighting designer Poul Henningsen. They sought to develop an entry for an international competition for decorative art, resulting in what is known as the Paris Lamp.
The Paris Lamp, upon winning the competition, revolutionized the lighting world. Using Scandenavian design principles of minimalism and form derived from function, Henningsen's three-shaded design shielded the bulb from the observer's eyes, while refracting the light in such a way as to spread it generously in a space.
Thereafter, Louis Poulson received a contract to equip the new Forum building in Copenhagen with a refined version of the Paris Lamp, now called PH5. From there, the company expanded its offerings to include an entire catalogue of luminaires and, eventually, focused its attention entirely on lighting.
Today, from its headquarters in Copenhagen, Louis Poulsen remains one of the most highly-regarded lighting brands on Earth. Its catalogue boasts lights from eminent lighting designers such as Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato, and Louise Campbell. They have brought a Danish Modern flavour to almost a century of evolving lighting style, and, with their warm and simple yet dynamic sensibility, we can expect that to continue for a long time to come.
