PH 3/2 Academy from Louis Poulsen

Poul Henningsen’s partnership with Louis Poulsen started back in 1925-1926 when he designed his first lights for an exhibition in Paris. This partnership continued up until his death in 1967. Throughout his life, PH sought to create glare-free light, direct light where it was most needed, and create soft shadows, using incandescent bulbs as a light source.

PH 3/2 Academy is a member of the three-shade family which numbers 30 lights today, including three for outdoor use. Thus PH did not just design a light, but an entire system – around a thousand different variants have been produced over the years. This wide selection consisted of table, floor and wall lamps, as well as a number of different chandeliers, which were very popular in the 30s for lighting private homes from high ceilings.

There were countless combination options. The lights were available in different colours and materials, as well as a range of sizes. The first shades were made of metal with a painted undersurface, such as white, gold or silver – depending on whether diffuse, warm or cold light was desired. Glass was later introduced for the three-shade system. In addition to the downward-directed light, glass lamps illuminated the room.

PH was the first person to pursue a scientific approach to light and use the logarithmic spiral as a basis. By using a design based on the logarithmic spiral he achieved even distribution of light over the entire curve of the shade. This even light distribution, together with the diffuse reflection through the glass, made it possible to control glare and shadow. Each shade reduces the amount of light equally, due to their distance from the light source.

The PH light model numbers refer to the shade size. Each top shade had a corresponding set of middle and lower shades. In the ‘pure’ models, such as the 3/3, the top shade had a size of about 30 cm, with corresponding lower shades. PH 3/2 Academy consists of three lights with 30 cm top shades, but uses lower shades from the 2/2 model. These ‘hybrid’ models were introduced due to the desire to hang the pendants at lower heights. The PH Academy light which is in production today was launched in 2000.

The three lights on the fixture are designed based on the principle of a reflective threeshade system which directs the majority of the light downwards. The shades are made of mouth-blown opal three-layer glass, which is glossy on the top and sandblasted matt on the inside, giving a soft and diffused light distribution.