Cirque Pendant: Clara von Zweigbergk's Painted Stripes in Two Sizes

Most small pendants in the Louis Poulsen catalogue are plain spun aluminium: one colour, one silhouette, all attention on the light below. The Cirque Pendant takes the opposite route and paints its shade in bands of colour. This piece looks at where those stripes came from, how the two smaller sizes differ, and where a Cirque earns its place in a home.

A paper study that started spinning

Cirque began on a desk rather than in a lighting workshop. Clara von Zweigbergk is a graphic designer based in Stockholm, known for her work with colour, paper and print. In her studio she folded a paper study with fields of colour on its faces, and when the model was set spinning, the separate fields appeared to merge into continuous rings. That optical effect, flat colour turning into a band once it moves, is the whole idea behind the lamp.

Louis Poulsen translated the observation into metal. The shade is spun aluminium, the same production method the company uses for many of its pendants, and the colour is painted on in horizontal bands that wrap the form with soft transitions between one tone and the next. The name points to the reference: the stripes nod to the balloons, carousels and onion domes of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, where a summer evening is mostly painted wood, coloured bulbs and things going round.

How the shade is built

Look closely and a Cirque is a simple object. There are three parts that matter.

• The outer shade. Spun aluminium, painted in stripes of red, copper or grey nuances. Each colourway is named after its top band, so you will see Grey Top, Copper Top and Red Top, with a Yellow Top also among the current options.
• The inner reflector. Lacquered white, so the inside of the lamp stays neutral whatever colour the outside is. The light that reaches your table is soft white downlight, not tinted by the stripes.
• The suspension. A 3 m off-white fabric cord and a canopy, both included. The pale cord keeps the eye on the shade rather than on the line to the ceiling.

That white interior is the practical point that is easy to miss in photographs. Cirque reads as a coloured object from across the room, but it behaves like a glare-free Louis Poulsen pendant when you sit beneath it. Switched off, the exterior works almost like a print hung in the air, which is why the lamp suits rooms where a plain dome would disappear.

Ø 150 or Ø 220: choosing the size

Cirque is made in more than one diameter, and the two smaller ones are the sizes most homes will consider. The figures below come straight from the product specification.

• Ø 150: 150 mm wide and 189 mm high, weighing 1.2–2.4 kg depending on colourway. One E27 bulb, max 25 W.
• Ø 220: 220 mm wide and 295 mm high, weighing 2.0–3.6 kg. One E27 bulb, max 40 W.

The Ø 150 is a small lamp in every sense. At under 19 cm tall it works where a pendant has to stay out of the way of a head or a cupboard door: low beside a bed in place of a table lamp, above a narrow hall console, or in a café corner by the window. Its lower bulb limit makes it an accent and a reading light rather than a room light.

The Ø 220 has more presence and carries the stripes at a scale you can read from the door. It is the size to hang singly over a small round table for two, or in a row of two or three above a kitchen counter, where the repeated bands create a rhythm along the run. Mixing sizes and colourways in one row is also an option the design invites, since the shared dome shape holds a varied group together. For a large dining table or a double-height space, a Ø 380 version also exists.

Bulbs are not included, and all sizes are rated IP20 for indoor use.

Choosing a colourway

The colourway decides how loud the lamp will be. Grey Top is the quietest: the painted bands read as shading on the dome, and it sits comfortably with oak, concrete or pale walls. Copper Top is warmer and pairs well with brass fittings, terracotta and walnut. Red Top is the most direct reference to Tivoli, and it works best where it is the only strong colour in view, such as a white kitchen or a pale bedroom.

Because the inside is always white, the choice is purely about the room by day and the object when the lamp is off. It will not change the colour of the light on your food or your book.

Cirque next to plain spun aluminium pendants

If you like the size of a Cirque but are unsure about colour, two other small Louis Poulsen pendants share its spun aluminium construction and are worth comparing. The Above Pendant by Mads Odgård is a matt black or white cone with an arched opening at the top that lets a little light escape upwards. The Keglen Pendant by Jakob Lange of BIG is a cone with a curved opal insert around the stem and an integrated LED.

The short version: Above and Keglen are about shape, and they let the room supply the colour. Cirque supplies the colour itself. In a neutral interior that needs one cheerful object, Cirque does the job of a pendant and a piece of graphic art at once. In a room already full of pattern, a plain cone will usually sit more calmly. If you are weighing small pendants for a compact home more generally, our guide to designer lighting for small apartments covers placement in tighter rooms.

Living with a Cirque

Hang the Ø 150 low, with the bottom edge roughly at shoulder height when you are seated, so the white reflector stays hidden and the light falls on the bedside table or the book. Over a counter, keep a row of Ø 220 shades evenly spaced and at the same height, and let the stripes do the work; staggered heights tend to look accidental with a striped dome. The 3 m cord leaves room for adjustment under most ceilings.

Painted aluminium needs no more than a dry or slightly damp soft cloth. Avoid abrasive cleaners on the bands, and dust the white interior occasionally so the reflected light stays clean.

To see Cirque alongside Henningsen's shades, Panton's domes and the newer designs, browse the full Louis Poulsen collection.