Louis Poulsen Unispot Lamp

Louis Poulsen Unispot lamp 1968 design white plastic spotlight lampshade aluminium reflector Denmark E27 socket

Louis Poulsen Unispot lamp 1968 design white & black plastic spotlight lampshade aluminium reflector Denmark E27 socket

Louis Poulsen Unispot Lamp – Catalogue Picture

Materials: Round metal (iron) wall or ceiling mount with a white plastic lid. Aluminium lampshade holder. Adjustable white plastic lampshade. Aluminium reflector. Some metal and plastic parts. Porcelain E27 socket.

Height: 30 cm / 11.81”

Width: ∅ 15 cm / 5.90”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 100 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1960s, 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: Bent Gantzel-Boysen in 1971.

Manufacturer: Louis Poulsen & Co A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Other versions: The Louis Poulsen Unispot lamp was produced in several colours and variations, as shown here. This spotlight is model 48500, also known as Lillebror (“little brother”). The Unispot series received an iF Design Award in 1972.

The first Unispot was introduced in black. In 1972, white, red and yellow were added to the range. A smaller version followed later, which became known as Lillebror.

The Unispot series is described in detail in the reference book Danish Lights – 1920 to Now.

Bent Gantzel-Boysen

Bent Gantzel-Boysen (1930–2008) was a Danish designer with a background in electromechanics and engineering. He joined Louis Poulsen in 1956 and became head of the company’s design team during the 1970s.

For Louis Poulsen, he designed a number of important lighting models, including the LamPetit table lamp, a design that is often mistakenly attributed to Verner Panton. He is also associated with the IT series and with later additions to the PH family, including the PH 80 table and floor lamps.

In the late 1970s, Gantzel-Boysen started his own company and went on to design lamps for IKEA for about ten years. Among his best-known IKEA designs are the DUETT pendant lamp, launched in the 1983 IKEA catalogue, the CIRKEL pendant lamp from 1978, and the BANJO table, wall and clip-on lamp.

More information about the LamPetit table lamp can be found here. More information about the DUETT pendant lamp can be found here.

Louis Poulsen

Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer with roots going back to 1874, when Ludvig R. Poulsen founded a business in Copenhagen. Originally a trading company, the firm gradually shifted towards electrical supplies and lighting as electricity became more widely used. In 1896 Ludvig’s nephew Louis Poulsen joined the company, and after Ludvig’s death in 1906 Louis continued the business. In 1914Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen became a partner, and the company name changed to Louis Poulsen & Co.

A decisive turning point came in 1924, when Poul Henningsen began his long collaboration with the company. His scientific approach to glare-free lighting and reflective multi-shade systems became central to the identity of Louis Poulsen and strongly influenced modern lighting design. Since then, the company has continued to combine functional light, architectural clarity and carefully considered form, following the idea that a lamp should not merely be an object, but a tool to shape light.

Over the decades, Louis Poulsen has produced both iconic domestic lighting and large-scale architectural lighting for public and professional spaces. The company remains one of the best-known names in Danish lighting design, with a strong emphasis on the quality, direction and atmosphere of light.

Designers

The designer most closely associated with Louis Poulsen is Poul Henningsen (PH). Other major names linked to the company include Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen and Vilhelm Wohlert.

Over time, Louis Poulsen also collaborated with a wide range of designers, architects and studios, including Alfred Homann, Andreas Hansen, Eila & John Meiling, Henning Klok, Axel Wedel Madsen, Jørgen Bo, Ole Valdemar Kjær, Jens Møller-Jensen and Bent Gantzel-Boysen.

Among later and more recent collaborations are Louise Campbell, Øivind Slaatto, Christian Flindt, Clara von Zweigbergk, nendo (Oki Sato), Olafur Eliasson, GamFratesi, Anne Boysen, Peter Bysted, Anu Moser, Shoichi Uchiyama, Gabriel Tan and Finn Juhl.