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Louis Poulsen Shares How the Above Pendant Is Made

Danish brand Louis Poulsen is universally known for their iconic lighting, manufacturing some of the most recognizable fixtures in the game. One of their latest fixtures, the Above pendant, is well on its way to icon status with its minimalist conical silhouette. Designed by Danish designer Mads Odgård, the fixture illuminates downward with a soft, even glow thanks to its matte white interior. In this Deconstruction, Louis Poulsen gives us an inside look at how this beautiful pendant came to life.

01.09.18 | By
Louis Poulsen Shares How the Above Pendant Is Made

For generations, Louis Poulsen products have been synonymous with passionate craftsmanship. The right, high-quality materials are paramount to the crafting process, and are formed to reflect, absorb, and reveal to ultimately create products that please the eye and enhance the space, whether they are lit or unlit.

Following Louis Poulsen’s belief that design should shape light, Odgård has taken his knowledge of outdoor lighting and natural ambience inside – and designed a lamp that illuminates a room without dominating. He has considered how the light would interact with and improve its surroundings.

The Above pendant lamp emits soft comfortable downlight. The opening in the top provides decorative illumination of the arch above, and ensures that the lamp retains the full expression of its visual shape both when illuminated and when switched off.

The Danish designer Mads Odgård, is a minimalist and a ‘less is more’ man, who would rather deduct than add. More than anything, he believes that excellent design must be logical and functional if it is to endure.

Odgård’s approach begins with the function of the design – a drawing of a room, working with simple graphic silhouettes.

He manipulates the shape into an aesthetic design. Odgård is a minimalist to the core and creates understandable products, where function is valued to the same degree as form and quality.

The artisanship of creating the perfect lampshade in one piece is one of Louis Poulsen’s specialties. Crafted of aluminum, Louis Poulsen use a special spinning technique – a flat sheet of metal slowing transforms into a beautiful organic shape. (Louis Poulsen and Poul Henningsen invented the legendary three-shade system in 1926 – known for its ability to direct the majority of the light downwards while eliminating glare)

The conical shape and the matte, white-painted inside help assure even distribution of the light.

The opening in the top is cut out after the shape is formed.

One of Louis Poulsen’s most skilled painters has created a special technique to apply the wet paint on the outside, without leaving marks on the white inside.

Inspecting the finished pieces for defects and flaws.

Finally, the pendant is assembled with a black cord, creating a beautiful graphic contrast.

The pendant is available in four sizes and two colors.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.