In a time when the options for light fixture designs are so widespread and innovative, it's easy to forget that most people didn't even have electric lights at home 100 years ago. In the grand scheme of household items, lamps haven't been around so long.
In fact, that one of the most revolutionary lighting designs of the modern era was created by a man who grew up without electricity. Still considered a design icon today, Poul Henningsen’s Artichoke Lamp completely changed the way we consider our light sources when it debuted in 1958.
Henningsen was born in a small Danish town in 1894, where his world was lit by gas lamps. He studied architecture, but is best known for his lighting designs—brilliant and beautiful inventions that resulted from his obsession with the newly invented light bulb. Henningsen's main goal with his lighting designs was to eliminate glare and evenly distribute light in a room.
The Artichoke Lamp came to be when Henningsen was asked to design ceiling lights for a buzzy new restaurant in Copenhagen in 1958. The designer actually revisited designs he'd started decades before, and the end result was an innovative, sculptural design that accomplished his two goals. Named such for its similarity to an upside-down artichoke, the light is composed of 72 individual copper "leaves," which completely conceal the light bulb but reflect its warm glow in every direction.
Henningsen is considered to be one of the first lighting designers to truly blend form and function with this model. The Artichoke Lamp has been solely produced by Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen since its debut, though adding one of these statement-making lights to your home comes at a steep price: The smallest of the Artichokes starts at $11,600.
Naturally, many more affordable reproductions and lamps inspired by Henningsen's innovative design are out on the market today. Here are some of our favorites:
Mod Home Elements Silver Artichoke Leaf Lamp
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