For the tenth edition of 3 Days of Design 2023 in Copenhagen (until 9 June), Danish lighting company Louis Poulsen has collaborated with the creatives behind emerging Brooklyn-based homewares brand Heven, Breanna Box and Peter Dupont.
Taking Louis Poulsen’s ‘Pale Rose’ collection as a foundation – which features iconic designs from modernist luminaries, Poul Henningsen and Vilhelm Lauritzen – the couple were given creative freedom to reinterpret the originals. From an ethereal, blue-toned take on the ‘PH 5’ pendant, to a reimagining of Lauritzen’s ‘VL45 Radiohus’ pendant, the results are a limited-edition series of exquisite art pieces resplendent with Heven’s playful signature motifs of horns, swirls and tentacles.
Louis Poulsen meets Heven
As glass artists themselves, Box and Dupont approached the project with a deep appreciation for the heritage designs, having spent time studying how the original pieces made careful use of reflection from their light sources, to create glare-free illuminations that were also soft and warm.
‘This project was a dream commission for us,’ explains Dupont. ‘Poul Henningsen’s approach to design has always been a big inspiration. From his interest in writing and filmmaking, his approach to product and architecture, through to his pure energy for life.’
In addition to directing, set design, modelling, and founding a fledgling clothing label, the multi-hyphenate couple took up glassblowing at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, launching Heven in 2020.
‘I took a glassblowing class in New York, just as things were getting scary’, says Box. ‘I’ve always loved the speed with which you can create something truly unique and original from glass, and I felt the pull to explore.’ A chance meeting with British glass artist KT Rothe provided the encouragement to dive in professionally, and the couple credit her as an important mentor in their work to date.
For the collaboration with Louis Poulsen, Box and Dupont enlisted the help of Elliot Walker, the 34-year-old British sculptor and winner of season two of Netflix’s hit series, Blown Away. Much of the prototyping for the collection was done at Walker’s workshops in Birmingham.
‘We didn’t graduate from any kind of design school but have worked and invented based on a mixed background of fashion, art and film with a very hands-on approach to our design’, Box continues. ‘We are both trained glassblowers, and that technical understanding of what is and isn’t possible is key when building relationships with master craftspeople who can realise our dreams.’ ‘We have a heavenly network of creatives,’ Dupont says with a grin.
Heven also designed the immersive showcase and staging for the collaboration pieces, which present the heritage designs alongside the special editions. After the festival ends on Friday 9 June, the showcase will move to Louis Poulsen’s showroom in Copenhagen.
‘We’re excited to reveal these unique pieces, as a wonderful modern tribute to two of our most important heritage designers,’ says Louis Poulsen CCO David Obel Rosenkvist. ‘This collaboration just goes to show how iconic heritage designs continue to inspire and evolve over time.’ The pieces will be sold at a US auction house at the end of this year, with most of the proceeds being donated to a youth charity, encouraging access to the arts.
