The lamp that defined 1970s Danish lighting is back at full height and in full colour. Louis Poulsen has released the Panthella 500 Floor Lamp The Originals, a floor standing version of Verner Panton's mushroom icon dressed in the saturated opal shades the design wore when it first appeared. It goes on sale in Japan from November 1, and it lands in the year Panton, born in 1926, would have turned 100.
Completing The Originals
The Originals started earlier this year with the Panthella Portable Lamp The Originals in 160 and 250 sizes, smaller takes on the same colours. The floor lamp is the piece that finishes the set, and it is the most faithful to the original idea. When the first Panthella was introduced in 1971, it came in five vibrant colours with a chrome stand. The new 500 floor lamp follows that recipe with five Original Opal shades, Blue Grey, Red, Orange, Green and Brown, all on a gleaming chrome stem and base.
If you already know the standard Panthella Floor Lamp, think of this as the louder sibling. The Originals goes straight back to the era of shag rugs, glass side tables and velvet seating, and the campaign imagery leans all the way in.
Why the shape works
Panton designed Panthella so that both the stand and the shade acted as reflectors. The trumpet shaped stem catches light and throws it back up, while the dome sends a glare free glow downward. With the opal versions used here, the shade itself also glows, so the lamp reads as a soft coloured lantern when it is on and a bold sculptural object when it is off. That double life is a big part of why Panthella has stayed in production and in so many design lovers' living rooms.
The details
The 500 is a substantial lamp. It measures 500 mm across the shade and stands 1290 mm tall, and it weighs 13.0 kg, so it stays planted. The shade is injection moulded acrylic with an opal diffuser, it takes a standard E27 bulb, and it comes with a 2.5 m cord with plug and an on and off foot switch. Louis Poulsen also notes that the lamp is designed so that it can be fully disassembled and reused.
The Panton connection
Verner Panton (1926 to 1998) built a career on colour, curves and new materials, and Panthella sits right beside his cantilevered plastic chair as one of his defining shapes. A centenary year is the obvious moment to bring his original palette back, and Louis Poulsen has done it without changing the silhouette at all.
Why it matters
This one is Surfacing. Panton's original palette at full floor lamp scale is the version of Panthella that feels most like 1971, and in his centenary year it is the one to watch. For more on Panton, read The Panton Chair Explained, and for another Louis Poulsen revival, see the PH 1/1 Piano table lamp.
