Poul Henningsen designed the three-shade lighting system in 1925-1926, aiming for glare-free light and soft shadows. The system, comprising over a thousand models, includes table, floor, and wall lamps, as well as chandeliers. The PH 3½-2½ Floor light, introduced in 2002, is a hybrid model with a 35 cm top shade.
Louis Poulsen
Established in 1874, Louis Poulsen has a long-standing heritage working with world renowned Danish designers to design and produce iconic products. Their impressive product portfolio spans indoor, outdoor and architectural lighting, designed by both heritage designers such as Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton and Vilhelm Lauritzen, as well as leading contemporary designers such as Christian Flindt, Shoichi Uchiyama and Anne Boysen. With headquarters in Copenhagen and production facilities in Vejen, Denmark, Louis Poulsen stay close to their roots in Danish design, while having grown to become an internationally acclaimed luxury lighting Brand, with a global distribution network.
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.