Munkegaard
Lamp
Lamp
Munkegaard
Lamp
Lighting
1955
Munkegaard
Lamp
Lamp
Originally designed forMunkegaard School
Munkegaard Lamp
For the Munkegaard School Arne Jacobsen designed an embedded lamp that functioned as an elegant supplement to the natural light flowing through the large window sections in the classrooms.
YEAR:
1955
WORK OF ARCHITECTURE:
Munkegaard School
DESIGN:
Arne Jacobsen
Classroom at the Munkegaard School, 1957. Photo: Aage Strüwing © Jørgen Strüwing.
Arne Jacobsen designed the Munkegaard lamp in 1955 for the Munkegaard School in Gentofte north of Copenhagen. The built-in lamp with its circular shade illustrates Arne Jacobsen’s aim of reducing the light source to a simple, discreet and clearly defined disc.
The Munkegaard School, which opened in Gentofte in 1957, is famous for its innovative approach to school architecture. Arne Jacobsen designed the new municipal primary and lower secondary school as a low structure with a good influx of daylight for all the classrooms and access to calm outdoor spaces. In addition, Arne Jacobsen furnished the entire school with new furniture, product and textile designs. In the classrooms and hallways, the new Munkegaard lamp was installed as an elegant supplement to the natural light flowing through the large window sections.
Waiting area in Rødovre Town Hall with the Munkegaard Lamp and Dot stools with round backrests mounted on the wall, 1956.
Photo: Aage Strüwing © Jørgen Strüwing.
Munkegaard Lamp
Manufactured by
Manufactured by
The Munkegaard School around the time of the opening in 1957.
Photo: Arne Jacobsen. Original is found at the Royal Danish Library - Danish National Art Library.
The distance from the wall or ceiling to the shade is about 30 mm, so that the light illuminates an area around the luminaire. Arne Jacobsen designed it that way to ensure a gradual, pleasant transition from the directly lit glass to the surface around it.
The Munkegaard lamp is embedded in the wall, so that only the white frosted glass shade and the brass rim are visible. During the 1950s, the design was put into production by the lamp manufacturer Louis Poulsen in two sizes. Since then, the series has been expanded with additional sizes, and the rim is now satin chrome plated. The distance from the wall or ceiling to the shade is about 30 mm, so that the light illuminates an area around the luminaire. Arne Jacobsen designed it that way to ensure a gradual, pleasant transition from the directly lit glass to the surface around it.
The Munkegaard lamp exemplifies how Arne Jacobsen sought to reduce the form to a clearly defined basic geometric shape. The lamp shares a key concept with the fitting series VOLA from the late 1960s, which, like the Munkegaard lamp, conceals the fitting inside the wall, leaving only the simple, cylindrical form visible.
Sources: Arne Jacobsen Design Archives. / Arne Jacobsen’s scrapbooks. The Royal Library – Danish Art Library. / Stenum Poulsen, K., Skaarup Larsen, A., & Staunsager, S. (2020). Arne Jacobsen – Designing Denmark. Kolding: Trapholt. / Thau, C., & Vindum, K. (1998). Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press.
Rødovre Town Hall. Photo: Kim Høltermand / Arne Jacobsen Design.
The Munkegaard School around the time of the opening in 1957. Photo: Arne Jacobsen. Original is found at the Royal Danish Library - Danish National Art Library.
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