Poul Henningsen - The Master of Light

Poul Henningsen – The master of light

Poul Henningsen, often referred to only as PH, was one of the popular Danish author, critic, architect and designer. He was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark in between the two World Wars. PH is called the master of light as many of his pieces are considered timeless and are still patronized by many individuals, even though they were designed in the 1920s – 1950s. He created the lighting series which carries his name and was known to be the world’s first lighting architect.

The life and works of Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen was the fourth child of Agnes Henningsen. PH and his siblings lived in the home of their mother in Ordrup. Between 1911 and 1917, PH studied architecture, however, he was not able to finish the program, and instead pursued a career as an inventor and painter.

He was known for being the master of light since his major contributions are in the field of lighting. He was the designer of PH lamp in 1925. The PH lamp, just like his other light designs used carefully analyzed reflecting and baffling of the light rays from the bulb to achieve glare-free and uniform illumination. Louis Poulsen was the one who manufactured the light fixtures. One of the PH’s greatest works and contributions is the PH Artichoke, which resembled an artichoke in appearance and applied the multiple layers to reflect and refract light among the varied surface. 

Life as a filmmaker

As a filmmaker, PH was the one behind “The Film of Denmark” from 1935 which has not been met with unambiguous positive criticism. The film was authorized in the 1920s, but released in 1935 wherein there were changes in the social circumstances due to interwar instability. The film was generally a project by the Foreign Ministry which aimed to promote Denmark as a tourist destination.

Life as a lighting designer

For many lighting experts, they consider Poul Henningsen as the first lighting architect. As many people are aware of, light has been a necessity of urban living for many centuries. PH was also the one to expand its understanding, to ponder about how the lighting could be “shaped” to create different moods in a room.

In all of the designs of PH, he was inspired by the idea of progress and his optimism and faith in the future were essential in his designs. In addition to these, his designs likewise helped PH in establishing his political views. Progress, change, positivism and simplicity are in the philosophy of PH and can be seen in his designs. These views also inspired other designers up to this day.

PH was also the architect of Glass Hall Theatre in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen. Creativity and architectural precision can be obviously seen in the design of the theater. Functionality was the primary concern of the theater’s design as with the other designs of Poul Henningsen.