A Functionalist Architect's Pendant Lamps from 1956 Get a 2023 Upgrade

In 1955, Functionalist architect Vilhelm Lauritzen was commissioned to design the Folkets Hus (People’s House), the headquarters for the Danish Labor Movement in Copenhagen. As with Alvar Aalto’s design of the Paimio Sanatorium, the commission was a gesamtkunstwerk (loosely translated, “total work of art”), meaning Lauritzen designed the building and everything inside it: The furniture, the doorknobs, the lamps, and even the power outlets.

The Folkets Hus opened in 1956, which probably gave the following product its name. Among the lighting fixtures Lauritzen designed for the building are these mushroom-like pendant lamps, which I believe (but could not confirm) were made of opal glass:

He also designed a longer version with different proportions, apparently in metal:

The longer of the two was known as the VL 56, and this year manufacturer Louis Poulsen has updated it, with both brass and chrome-plated aluminum bodies:

“The pendant emits downward directed glare-free light. The radial perforation pattern around the opening creates a softer transition between light and darkness. The perforations create a soft beautiful pattern of light both on the shade and on the surrounding surfaces.”

I have a favor to ask, for any readers in Copenhagen:

The Folkets Hus, in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro neighborhood, is now a concert hall called Vega. Louis Poulsen says the original VL 56 pendants still hang “above the wood-paneled bar adjacent to the concert hall.” If you happen to pop in there, could you snap an up-close shot of the pendants?

Louis Poulsen writes that the 2023 design update features “slight adjustments and improvements,” but they don’t say what those are. I could not find any high-quality images of the originals, and I’m curious to see what’s been changed. Going by the low-quality images, it looks like the original had a glass diffuser and no perforations.

Thanks in advance, and your next Carlsberg’s on me!

Source: core77