Fall introductions by Danish lighting company Louis Poulsen include Yuh by GamFratesi; new metal versions of DooWop; the PH5 mini; and VL38, an addition to the company’s Vilhelm Lauritzen range.
See press releases for each below:
Personal Light – GamFratesi designs new lamp for Louis Poulsen
Celebrating Louis Poulsen’s philosophy of designing to shape light and inspired by the classic virtues of Danish design, Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi, who make up GamFratesi, the most stirring design duo of our time, have designed a lamp dubbed Yuh.
With an impressive knowledge of design history and inspired by Poul Henningsen’s philosophy about light, combined with Arne Jacobsen’s geometric shapes, GamFratesi pays homage to the legends and adds their own characteristic aesthetic playfulness to the new Yuh Lamp.
“We are very inspired by the AJ lamp design by Arne Jacobsen. There is something very striking about its geometry. It is angled and the shade is designed in such a way that one part of it is always aligned with the floor in one way or another. It is extremely sculptural, but also very geometric,” says Stine Gam.
“It is a piece of architecture,” adds Enrico Fratesi.
Asked about the collaboration, Rasmus Markholt, idea and design director at Louis Poulsen, says, “For me, collaborating with GamFratesi was an obvious choice. They are a good fit for our line of creative partnerships with their strong contemporary aesthetics and shared values rooted in the Danish design tradition.”
Personal light
One of the essential features of the lamp is that it is personal. The lamp is flexible and takes up very little space. It rotates and moves up and down, illuminating and creating ambience in the required area. A lamp created just around you.
“Our biggest challenge was to design the lamp so that it could be moved in several directions. We worked with three different types of movement on the axis: inclination, rotation and up and down. This made it very complex. It was a huge challenge, but there is a fantastic team of engineers at Louis Poulsen with whom we had a very good working relationship,” says Enrico Fratesi.
The lamp provides direct glare-free downward light. The angle of the shade can be adjusted to optimize light distribution. The slim opening at the top of the shade provides soft, ambient upward illumination.
“Our desire to incorporate a diffuser in the lamp stems from our respect for Poul Henningsen’s work as well as from our appreciation of indirect light. We like the fact that you do not see the light source and are not dazzled. With a diffuser, the light source is concealed, which we think makes the illumination very magical,” says Stine Gam.
Louis Poulsen debuted the new collaboration at this year’s Euroluce in Milan, with an out-of-the-ordinary stand design by GamFratesi. By creating an architectural structure inspired by Japanese paper art, GamFratesi sought to create an out-of-the-box space that makes visitors think about how cuts, lines and shapes affect light and create ambience.
Yuh is available from September 2017 and comprises a table lamp, a floor lamp and a wall lamp, which are all available in white or black.
About GamFratesi
GamFratesi’s design take their creative drive from a fusion of tradition and innovation in an experimental approach to their chosen materials and techniques. Each with their own traditional background, Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi draw on classic Danish furniture and craftsmanship as well as a classic Italian intellectual and conceptual approach. Understanding a tradition and addressing it actively in the workshop makes it possible to expand on it. From this cross-cultural substrate they create design that respectfully reflects tradition while also featuring unique embedded stories, symbols and associations, often expressed through minimalism. GamFratesi was founded in 2006 by Danish architect Stine Gam and Italian architect Enrico Fratesi. They met at the Department of Architecture at the University of Ferrara in Northern Italy in 2004 and have since studied together at the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark. GamFratesi have a studio in Copenhagen.
About Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer, founded in 1874. In close partnership with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen, Øivind Slaatto, nendo (Oki Sato), Shoichi Uchiyama, Louise Campbell and Mads Odgård, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural lighting in the world market. The company offers a range of lighting aimed at both the commercial and domestic lighting markets. Every Louis Poulsen product has a story. These are products whose designers focus on light itself and the idea behind the product as well as on the refinement of an architect’s, light specialist’s or interior designer’s concepts and visions about light – all in harmony with Louis Poulsen’s own lighting philosophy: design to shape light.
Mixing metals
With two new versions in metal, Louis Poulsen shines a new light on the Doo-Wop, one of its most distinctive pendant shapes. Despite their strong looks, polished copper and stainless steel bring an elegance and warmth to the home.
Mixing metals was once a design no-go, but is now a go-to way of adding depth and visual interest. Contrasting metals complement and bring out the best in each other. Cool metallic tones, such as steel, bring a clean, modern aesthetic to a space, whilst warmer tones, such as copper and brass, are inviting and flattering. A mixture of both cold and warm tones provide a distinctive look, creating a modern flair with a touch of glamour, or minimalism with an inviting appeal that indicates a refined edginess. Single or mixed, the new versions of Doo-Wop in metal have been created to be adaptable, edgy and elegant.
The Doo-Wop design perfectly illustrates how to shape light with the use of materials, colours and form. The inner shade through which the light shines gives out a subtle diffused light, contrasting with the solid outer shade that shapes the light, directs it up- and downwards, while at the same time spreading a soft diffused light.
The pendant was originally introduced in 1952 and designed in close partnership with the Danish Navy Buildings Department. Exploiting the difficult spinning technique developed by the Louis Poulsen craftsmen, the pendant is an example of Louis Poulsen’s world-famous expertise and creates almost impossible shapes out of a simple sheet of metal.
The range now consists of a painted dark grey and a white, in addition to three metal versions: brass and the new steel and copper. With the characteristic and balanced outline of the design, these pendants form a harmonious, strong and contemporary family.The new metal versions will be available in stores from September 2017.
About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, the Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen creates products that encompass the duality of design and light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light. Louis Poulsen offers a range of lighting aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lights and solutions for both indoor and outdoor applications. In close partnership with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato and GamFratesi, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting and has a global presence with dedicated showrooms in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Miami, Oslo, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dusseldorf. Additional information is available at www.louispoulsen.com
Introducing PH 5 Mini – first ever resize of the world-famous PH 5 pendant
“Why the hell have the blind who call themselves lighting technicians never actually looked at the colors of daylight – when that is really what gives light and life true richness?” – Poul Henningsen, 1958.
Poul Henningsen was a pioneer of lighting design. He was one of the first to recognize the importance of the shaping of light, and in 1958, as a follow-up to his three-shade system from 1926, he designed the PH 5 pendant. Rooted in a meticulous analysis of the reflective qualities of light, Poul Henningsen’s PH 5 light is recognized as a Danish design classic and is notable for its innovative glare-free shape and uniform illumination. In the spirit of Poul Henningsen, Louis Poulsen now launches PH 5 Mini, a resize of the classic pendant, to cater to contemporary and creative living.
Henningsen designed the PH 5 in response to the continuous changes to the shape and size of incandescent bulbs. Regardless of how the light is installed and no matter what light source is used, the PH 5 is and remains completely glare-free.
Henningsen wanted to improve the color reproduction of the light source in the PH 5. Small red and blue shades were inserted to supplement the color in the part of the spectrum where the eye is least sensitive – the red and blue areas – thereby subduing the light in the middle yellow-green region where the eye is most sensitive. The new PH 5 Mini is introduced in an innovative new color palette, developed in collaboration with color expert Louise Sass and plays with colors that start with the darkest tone at the top and soften shade by shade.
The pendant was named PH 5 because of the 50-centimeter diameter of its top shade. Louis Poulsen now launches a mini version with a top shade diameter of 30 centimeters (12”). The Mini will be available in the Classic color version of PH 5, a new contemporary white, and an additional six color combinations: Hues of Orange, Rose, Red, Green, Blue and Grey.
The PH 5 Mini will be available beginning in October 2017.
About Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer, founded in 1874. Through close cooperation with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen, Øivind Slaatto, nendo (Oki Sato), Shoichi Uchiyama, Louise Campbell and Mads Odgård, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural lighting in the world market. The company offers a range of lighting targeting both the commercial and domestic lighting markets. There is a story behind every Louis Poulsen product. These are products whose designers focus on light itself and the idea behind the product as well as on the refinement of an architect’s, light specialist’s or furnishing designer’s concepts and visions about light – all in harmony with Louis Poulsen’s own lighting philosophy: design to shape light.
Louis Poulsen debuts new member of the Vilhelm Lauritzen range
Louis Poulsen has a long history of designing to shape light and the company’s collaboration with Vilhelm Lauritzen, the trail-blazing figurehead of Danish functionalism, forms part of that tradition. This significant partnership further confirms that working with creative minds is an important and integral part of the world of Louis Poulsen.
Louis Poulsen debuted the new addition to the Vilhelm Lauritzen range, originally designed in the late 1930s for the Radio House in Copenhagen, at Euroluce in Milan earlier this spring. The range now consists of the classic mouth-blown glass VL45 Radiohus Pendant and the VL38 table, floor and wall lamps in white/brass and the new black/brass version.
Vilhelm Lauritzen was a master of the art of combining materials and light. He carried out comprehensive studies of daylight as early as in the 1920s, and throughout his working life Lauritzen was devoted to developing and improving his lamps, which blended in harmoniously with the buildings he designed.
“The VL38 is the epitome of the characteristic Vilhelm Lauritzen lampshade and his innovative views on lighting design. The original combination of white and brass is both beautiful and timeless. The new black version adds a rigorous and modern touch to a design that allows you to work with contrast and darkness in your interiors, without compromising the shape of the light,” explains Rasmus Markholt, idea and design director at Louis Poulsen.
The arms of the lamps are made of brass and the shade is painted white on the inside to ensure a soft, comfortable light. With two light levels, the lamp emits a directed downward light and the angle of the shade can be adjusted to optimise light distribution. All the lamps have been fitted with LED light sources to accommodate contemporary advances in light technology and energy efficiency.
The VL38 table, wall and floor lamps in black and brass will be available in stores from September 2017.
About Vilhelm Lauritzen
Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894–1984) is one of the most significant architects in the history of Denmark; he was the trail-blazing figurehead of Danish functionalism.
Throughout his life, Vilhelm Lauritzen adhered to the principle that architecture is applied art – with equal emphasis on both ‘art’ and ‘applied’. “No life without aesthetics” was another of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s firmly held beliefs. Vilhelm Lauritzen mastered both daylight and artificial lighting. He consistently involved daylight in his architectural projects by including large south- and west-facing windows that neatly mixed warm sunlight with the cooler light from the sky flowing in through windows facing north and east. It was an approach that shifted focus from the limited wall surfaces in the room itself. People, furnishings and fittings are highlighted and shaded in the sculptural light. Lauritzen’s fixtures light up with the same idea. They combine strong directional light that produces sharp shadows with a gentler, more diffuse illumination that softens and shades the room.
Vilhelm Lauritzen’s first lamps, which he designed for the Radio House in Copenhagen, started to appear in Louis Poulsen catalogues in the mid-1940s. In the 1950s – as his major construction projects progressed – the Lauritzen range expanded to comprise a broad, varied selection of fittings.
About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, the Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen creates products that encompass the duality of design and light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light. Louis Poulsen offers a range of lighting aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lights and solutions for both indoor and outdoor applications. In close partnership with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato and GamFratesi, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting and has a global presence with dedicated showrooms in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Miami, Oslo, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dusseldorf. Additional information is available at www.louispoulsen.com