Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen is an architect from Denmark. He was born on 9th Sept 1894 and died on 31st Jan 1967. He is also known as PH in Denmark. He didn’t study his graduation. However he completed some courses regarding architecture during the years 1911-1917. He was interested in doing paintings and also inventing things.

One of the most famous works of Poul Henningsen is the PH-lamp. It was invented in the year 1925. Although it was a simple lamp, it looked awesome!

He was a semi communist and during the 1920′s he became pretty famous because of his book “Hvad med Kulturen?” and stunning architectural works. He was against fascism and was able to convey some messages regarding politics through the book. But he wasn’t happy with the democrats either since he thought that they were lacking something in regards with cultural activities. That was because he was more aligned to connecting culture and politics. He thought that politics and political parties should be in touch with culture. According to him, only then would they be able to serve the nation the best way.

He with his colleagues edited the left wing periodical “Kritisk Revy” meaning “Critical Review”. Through this periodical, he wanted to show his support regarding natural behaviour, simple living and sexual broad-mindedness. He also wrote regarding cultural conservatism and its relation with politics. At the same time, he also wanted to show the relation between old-fashioned style and politics.

In the year 1935, he was able to release a film about Denmark named “Danmarksfilmen”. It was aimed at showing the life in contemporary Denmark. But things were not fully shown in a respectful manner because of some reasons – but it was a lively film. He had to use a few slightly disrespectful methods to convey certain things. At first this film got a lot of criticism but then it was elected as one of the best Danish documentary films.

Table lamp
Charlottenborg pendel
The Artichoke
Snake Chair
PH Contrast