Louis Poulsen Floor Lamp Opal Glass PH 3½-2½

Designed following the principle of the reflective three-shade system, this floor lamp directs most of the light to the outside. The shades impress with hand-blown, three-layer opaline glass. They are glossy on the outside, matt-sandblasted on the inside and provide a soft and diffuse light distribution. The metal parts made of brass are chrome-plated or black metallized, depending on the version. Coating by PVD (the abbreviation stands for "physical vapour deposition") does the trick here. In this process, the brass parts are vaporized with titanium under vacuum conditions. The resulting coating of titanium nitride forms a fine, homogeneous surface with adamantine crystals. The metal industry uses the technique for tempering cutting tools; however, the striking look of PVD coatings – the surface appearance ranges between high-glossy dark chrome and hematite – finds more and more recognition in non-industrial contexts.

The lamps of the Danish manufacturer Louis Poulsen have been a benchmark for decades. They owe their development to the ground-breaking work of Poul Henningsen (1894–1967). After giving up his studies as an architect, he began working as a freelancer in the field of functional architecture. He followed his vision of creating an ideal lamp, a lamp that would provide completely non-reflective, indirect light and, at the same time, offer an efficient light yield. He was able to achieve this aim by cooperating with Louis Poulsen. The partnership began in 1925 and lasted until his death. Henningsen performed pioneering work concerning light structures, shades, reflection and light projection. In short, his work laid the foundation for the perception of light Louis Poulsen adheres to and set the framework for manufacturing lamps down to the present day.