Bent Gantzel-Boysen

Bent Gantzel-Boysen (1930–2008) was a Danish lighting designer. During the 1970s he was head of the design team at Louis Poulsen, where he was responsible for several important lighting designs.

He stood behind lamps such as the IT series (introduced in 1972) and the PH 80 table and floor lamps, designed in 1974 to commemorate the 80th birthday of Poul Henningsen (1894–1968). The PH 80 was conceived as a tribute design based on Henningsen’s original PH system.

Earlier, in 1966, Gantzel-Boysen designed the LamPetit table lamp for Louis Poulsen. This lamp is often incorrectly attributed to Verner Panton. You can find it over here.

In the early 1980s, Bent Gantzel-Boysen also designed lamps for IKEA. One of the most striking examples is the Duett pendant lamp, introduced around 1982–1983, featuring a composition of six coloured metal shades.

IKEA

IKEA, originally an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd, is a multinational group headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1943 in Älmhult, Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad (30 March 1926 – 27 January 2018), who was only seventeen years old at the time.

After several years of mail-order sales, IKEA opened its first full-scale store in Sweden in 1958. International expansion followed during the 1960s and 1970s, with the first stores opening in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). In 1973, IKEA entered new markets in Switzerland, Germany and Japan, marking the start of its rapid expansion across Europe and beyond.

In the Benelux, the first IKEA store opened in 1978 in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands. Belgian stores followed in 1984, with locations in Zaventem and Ternat. From the late 1970s onwards, IKEA became a familiar presence throughout Europe, combining large-scale retail with a strong focus on functional, affordable design.

Alongside its in-house design teams, IKEA has collaborated over the years with a number of well-known designers and studios, mainly for furniture and limited collections. These collaborations helped introduce contemporary design ideas to a broad audience, while remaining compatible with mass production. Designers who have worked with IKEA include, among others, Verner Panton, Tapio Wirkkala, Gillis Lundgren, Knut and Marianne Hagberg, Karin Mobring, Noboru Nakamura, Sarah Fager, Ehlén Johansson, Sabine Marcelis, Hanna Klarqvist, Tatsuo Konno, Carl Öjerstam, Magnus Elebäck, Hella Jongerius, Bent Gantzel-Boysen, Uno Dhalén, Ilse Crawford, Piet Hein Eek, Tom Dixon, and Virgil Abloh.

It should be noted that IKEA products are frequently misattributed online to famous designers. Claims that certain IKEA lamps or furniture were designed by Ettore Sottsass or his studio are incorrect and not supported by IKEA or catalogue documentation.