Brutalist Steel Ceiling Lamp by Simon P. Henningsen for Lyfa, 1960s

Danish architect and lighting designer Simon P. Henningsen was born in Copenhagen in 1920, the son of legendary lighting designer Poul Henningsen (1894-1967) and his wife Else Stroyberg. Between witnessing his father’s ongoing lighting experiments and being surrounded by design luminaries from a young age, Henningsen emerged from his formative years with a wealth of design expertise.

During World War II, Simon began studying architecture, but like his father never graduated. Instead, he became heavily involved in hands-on work and experiments with his father. In the postwar reconstruction era, Henningsen became infatuated with the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.  In 1948, he became the public park’s head architect—which would become his life’s work and from where most of his lighting designs would emerge. Wanting to highlight the natural beauty, Simon developed a style that was artistic and organic, fully rejecting the use of harsh, fluorescent bulbs.

Simon’s first light was unveiled in 1954 and was aptly named the SH Lamp in homage to his father’s collection for Louis Poulsen. Whereas the PH series was based on the researched concept of utilizing multiple shades and diffusors, Simon admitted that his shade wasn’t as scientifically composed as his father’s. Instead, Simon’s designs had a more whimsical aesthetic, realized in whirls, geometric shapes, and flower-like forms, for example the Tivoli Havelampe (1958). This garden illumination—which was later put into production by Danish lighting manufacturer Lyfa—seamlessly blended in to the natural environment of the garden. In 1959, he designed a heating lamp to prolong the outdoor season in Tivoli, which was later put into production by Fog & Mørup.

Henningsen’s most well known work is the spectacular Divan 2 Pendant (1962), designed for the Divan 2 restaurant in Trivoli to hang over the dinner tables and to reflect the natural light of the nightly sunsets and flickering candles. A truly unique lamp, it’s made of sharply angled mirrored glass with a jazzy palette of reds and blues. Lyfa picked up the Divan 2 for its collection, and it became an immediate commercial success. In 1964, the award-winning Divan 2 was exhibited in the Louvre and installed in Georg Jensen’s 5th Avenue store in New York. Other successful lamps by Henningsen for Lyfa include the Kassablanka (ca. 1960s) and Nippon (1970) pendant lights.

Henningsen passed away in 1974 at the young age of 54.

Danish lighting company Lyfa was originally founded ca. 1924 under the name of Københavns Lampe Og Lysekronefabrik in the early 20th century. Based in the greater Copenhagen area and renamed Lyfa ca. 1930, the firm began producing table lamps inspired by the multi-shaded PH Series (from 1925) by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen. Lyfa's lighting continued to show this influence through the 1940s.

By the 1950s, Lyfa had built an international reputation for original, high-quality, modernist lamps. In the postwar era, the company collaborated with esteemed architects and designers to produce minimalist, sculptural, "Space Age" table lamps, wall lights, and pendants, especially in colored glass, plastic, and enameled aluminum.

Bent Karlby, in particular, created a number of successful designs for Lyfa in the 1960s, such as the Kvadrille Wall Light, Omega Pendant, Pan-Opticon Wall Light, Påfugl/Peacock Wall Light, and Wonderlamp Pendant. One of Lyfa's most iconic designs is the Facet Pendant (1963/66), as well as its successor, the polychrome Facet Pop Pendant (1970) by Louis Weisdorf. It's also believed that Lyfa was the main producer of Orrefors lighting and designer Carl Fagerlund.

Other standout Lyfa collaborators in the midcentury include Michael Andersen, Acton Bjørn, Claus Bonderup, Piet Hein, Klaus Helweg-Larsen, Simon Henningsen, Finn Juhl, and Nils and Eva Koppel.

In its heydey—from the 1950s to mid-1970s—Lyfa was considered a pioneer in innovative, architectural lighting. Along the way, the company received numerous awards—including multiple International Forum Product Design Awards. Lyfa merged with Danish lighting competitor Fog & Mørup in the mid '70s. The new company operated as Lyfa-Fog & Mørup until the 1980s when it was taken over by a mass-market lighting producer, Lyskaer, and the Fog & Mørup brand was abandoned. That company has since changed hands, with the Lyfa label currently owned (but largely discontinued) by Nordlux of Ålborg.