Divan 2

Why it is renowned

LYFA states that the pendant won several Danish and international design prizes and was once shown at the Louvre in Paris.¹ When LYFA returned at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen, the British design magazine OnOffice described the Divan 2 as the lamp that greeted visitors to its showroom, in its original form and in a new, larger size.²

The story

Simon P. Henningsen, son of Poul Henningsen, became chief architect of Tivoli in Copenhagen in 1948.¹ In 1962 he drew a pendant for Divan 2, a Tivoli restaurant that looked out over the garden's lake.¹³ Its mirrored surfaces caught the coloured lights outside; during the fireworks the lamps were dimmed and raised toward the ceiling so guests could see the show.¹ LYFA then put the lamp into general production.³¹

The shade is a ring of vertical trapezes, polished stainless steel outside and lacquered red, blue, purple, green and white inside.¹ The bulb is hidden, so the light is indirect and without glare.¹ Each pendant is assembled and polished by hand.¹ It comes in five pendant sizes and as a table lamp; most sizes are made in the original polished steel or in solid brass.¹