Ebbe Christensen & Sophus Frandsen, Poul Henningsen
- 4 white shades mounted on 3 steel legs
- Designed for high-ceiling spaces
- Glare free and uniform illumination
- Latest design - used for an exhibition hall in Copenhagen
- Smaller blue shade enhance the part of the spectrum of the light least sensitive to the eye
The trumpet-shaped top shade on the fixture provides illumination of the area above the three shades, which primarily direct the light downwards. A base reflector and a blue glare ring protect against glare from all angles. The strongest light is directly under the fixture. The shades have a matte white painted finish to ensure very comfortable lighting.
White.
Poul Henningsen’s intention with the 4-shade fixture - as it was named at its birth in 1931 - was to make a fixture that could be mounted high-up, and become an alternative to the very often used chandeliers in domestic lighting. The big difference between the 4-shade and the 3-shade fixture was the ability of the 4-shade fixture to give more light to the walls.
The fixture however did not have its great breakthrough until 1979. Actually it was taken out of the Louis Poulsen standard product range in the 40’s. The 4-shaded fixture was redesigned in 1979 by two Danish architects, Sophus Frandsen and Ebbe Christensen, for the exhibition hall at Charlottenborg in Copenhagen in a larger size: PH 6½/6. In order to solve the never ending glare problem, the two architects decided to add a small blue shade to the construction. In addition, they also added a new surface: frosted, white lacquered shades, thus achieving a very even and smooth light - highly usable in places like museums and exhibition halls or even as the general illumination in high ceiling spaces.
In 1984 the smaller version of the 4-shaded fixture - the PH 6 Mini - was made for the Concert Hall in Århus, Denmark.