Meet Malene Lytken - Author, Designer, and lighting Aficianado

2020 marks 100 years since a young unknown Danish architect named Poul Henningsen, or PH as he was called, submitted a revolutionary new design for a streetlamp to the City of Copenhagen, and set off an evolution that has come to define Danish lighting design. Today PH’s iconic designs, together with those of Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton, and the designs of contemporary Danish designers such as Øivind Slaatto and Louise Campbell, are recognized around the world.

With PH’s streetlamp as point of departure, the book “Danish Lights - 1920 to Now” covers the last 100 years in Danish lighting history, and with over 250 beautiful photos tells the detailed stories of 100 Danish lighting designs and the iconic designers who created them. It is the first book to focus exclusively on Danish lighting design.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Malene and as we began our conversation, I couldn't help but feel a bit in awe of her extensive knowledge and passion for her craft.

Photos: Malene Lytken

Tell us a little about yourself. What is your background? As the title of my book reveals, I am Danish. I have lived in Denmark most of my life. However, I moved to France after high school, and started working at IKEA in Paris. As for my studies I am originally a trained designer from the Department of Design and Space of the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (the Academy of Fine Arts in Lyon) in France. Back in Denmark this education led to exciting jobs for example with exhibition design and set design for Danish TV, but also jobs in design stores. Due to my curiosity about the stories behind the good design objects, I began to study design history in the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Afterwards, I wrote a PhD thesis at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. I also taught the students and I was extremely happy to do that. Imagine being able to lecture and discuss design with these young, knowledgeable upcoming designers; they certainly taught me as much as I could teach them.

I am the mother of two almost grown-ups, Trine and Sebastian, still living at home, so in our apartment in the middle of the vibrant Frederiksberg neighborhood (just west of Downtown Copenhagen), it is of course about creating space for everyone.

What inspired you to write a book? Strandberg Publishing asked if I was interested in writing a book about Danish lights for them, because I have written the PhD thesis on the topic of lighting in Danish homes. The thesis is about how we in the old days have applied and today apply the artificial light in our home. It made good sense to investigate it in a country like Denmark, where we must switch on the light most of the time. It was exactly at this time that we had to phase out the incandescent bulbs, and I found it extremely interesting to investigate because I saw how people in their homes struggled to accept the need to move away from using the classic incandescent bulbs and instead use the terrible energy-efficient light bulbs and LED lights at the time: it was too cold a light for the Danes. But why? And how about 100 years earlier, when the electric bulbs had been brought into the home to replace kerosene lamps and candles? When I examined it, it turned out that it had certainly not been an easy transition back then - and in fact the Danes continued to light cozy flames inside the living rooms until now (Danes burn more candles than any other nation!) even though we know they emit harmful particles.

How long did it take you to write your book? I was actively embarking on the first research for the book from the start of January 2019, and from early March to early November I was literally working on the book 24/7. There was no life besides the work of researching and writing. I had to meet that deadline and it was a wild ride for all of us on the project. Personally, I am an extreme perfectionist so, in addition to archival work, I conducted sixty interviews between March and September 2019 with all the living designers of the lamps, family members of the deceased designers, manufacturers, studio staff, and various experts, i.e. everything from museum people to a biologist and an astrophysicist . Of course it would not have been possible to write the book in such a short time, if it were not for all the research I had done for my PhD thesis. I was also extremely grateful for all the sparring I got from the fantastic team at Strandberg Publishing as well as from my linguistic editor and my translator - who is a dear friend - and of course from the talented graphic designer who created such a beautiful book!

What were the biggest challenges you faced? Without a doubt limiting myself to just 100 stories and to limit the number of photos, because there was so much more that I wanted to show you! Then, of course, there were the lamp designs that I spent time researching but had to give up in the end because it was impossible to find enough information and history behind the design. For me, the whole point was to tell 100 complete stories.

What was the most surprising thing you learned when researching your book? I really learned a lot from all the interviews with the designers. I got so many interesting stories from them and they explained many details behind the design. It was so enriching. And think I could talk to, for example, a man like the architect Louis Weisdorf who had worked with both Poul Henningsen and Verner Panton. What stories he could tell me. And, by the way, he is still designing at the age of 88.

Why is lighting important in a home? Over the winter and spring of 2020, the Corona pandemic has changed lives all over the world. Many of us have been forced to stay in our homes most of the time and work from there. Here we have seen that it is important to have the right light for all the different scenarios during our waking hours: a pleasant light to wake up to - it must not be too sharp. The light, on the other hand, must be powerful when we - i.e. some of us - must put on makeup. We also need a good light when we work, it has to be a light that makes us active and efficient, which allows us to see all the details and which also gives absolutely correct color rendering. But when it gets darker outside and it is time to relax, we again need less light, i.e. a warmer and cozier ‘mood lighting’. For a dinner party, it is also much nicer when the lights are dim. However, it is generally quite nice to see the food on the plates in good lighting. Food can become truly unappetizing to watch if the lighting is wrong.

How does the way Danes use lighting differ from other countries? Naturally, we Danes want really good work light, but for us, the Danish phenomenon of hygge, a cozy atmosphere, is crucial in the home. This is something that the Danish designers have had to take into consideration when designing lamps for the Danish homes. In Denmark we often have many lamps in a room, i.e. lamps in all corners, but with weaker light sources or with the possibility of dimming the light, rather than just a large centered light source. I was just trying to count: I have eight lamps in my dining room and nine lamps in my living room - and there are also a lot of candlesticks and lanterns.

Do you have any special projects or exciting future plans? My great wish is to have the opportunity to help create a travelling exhibition on Danish lamp design when the world opens up again. And then of course I am not done writing. I would like to write more about light, but I would also like to write about the interior design professions significance in Denmark. Because in the design books the focus is most often on the individual design object and its designer.

What is your all-time favourite lamp(s)? That's a tricky question, because when you research a piece of design in-depth, and hear all the thoughts behind it, everything suddenly becomes even more beautiful. However, I have to say Poul Henningsen's lamps. I admire him/PH tremendously.  PH worked scientifically when he created his lampshades around the electric bulb and ended up creating so incredibly well-reflected light. He had the bar set endlessly high back in the 1920s. This has led to the creation of really good lighting/luminaires by the Danish designers ever since. Designers like Verner Panton, Louis Weisdorf, Louise Campbell, Sofie Refer and Øivind Slaatto have all worked and developed their fabulous lamps in PH's footsteps. Personally, I also love lamps that diffuse the light through frosted glass or, not least, paper, because it gives such an amazing light. A personal favorite is Kaare Klint's Fruit Lantern in paper through which the light diffuses warmly into the room; I want that lamp one day!

“Danish Lights - 1920 to Now” is available online at Strandberg Publishing Shop , Thames & Hudson, and Amazon.

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