Poul Henningsen, "PH Spiral" Ceiling Light Designed for the Headquarters Assembly Hall, Danish Consumers Cooperative Society, Albertslund, Denmark

Tina Jørstain and Poul Erik Munk Nielsen, eds., Light Years Ahead: The Story of the PH Lamp, Copenhagen, 2000, pp. 266-268

TF Chan, Louis Poulsen: First House of Light, London, 2024, pp. 49

The present ceiling lamp is a particularly rare variation on the “Spiral” chandelier designed in 1942 for the main hall of Aarhus University. This variant was commissioned in 1964 for the Headquarters’ Assembly Hall at the Danish Consumers Cooperative Society (‘COOP’) in Albertslund, outside Copenhagen. Virtually designed and constructed in the same manner as its earlier counterpart, the distinguishing factor that contributes to its scarcity and importance lies in the three different materials comprising the descending spirals: brass, copper and aluminum. The three metal spirals were wound into each other, and were glossy on the outside and with a white painted coating on the inside. To make room for the three spirals, the distance between them was steeper than in the Aarhus version. The light emanating from it also differed quite dramatically, with each metal surface providing a different coloration. Henningsen thought personally that the lamp with the three stranded threads had a more impactful and visually powerful effect.