VP Globe Pendant Ø40

Conceived by Verner Panton in 1969, the VP Globe is one of his most iconic lights — a transparent acrylic sphere holding aluminium reflectors with red and blue accents, suspended on steel chains. This Ø40 cm version is perfect for hallways, over a table, or as a sculptural element; it also comes in Ø28 and Ø50 cm.

Panton trained as an architect in Copenhagen and began his career in the studio of Arne Jacobsen, absorbing the discipline of Danish modernism before deliberately breaking away from it. While his contemporaries kept refining teak and paper, Panton embraced the industrial materials of the space age — moulded plastic, steel and acrylic — and the VP Globe shows why that leap mattered. The clear acrylic sphere makes the lamp read as nearly weightless: the polished aluminium reflectors seem to hover in mid-air, the red and blue lacquered accents add a graphic pulse, and the curved shades bounce light softly up and down without ever exposing the bare bulb to the eye. Verpan, the Danish manufacturer entrusted with Panton's lighting designs, still produces the VP Globe to the original specifications, keeping one of the boldest statements of 1960s lighting in authentic production. If you are drawn to this Danish lineage, the work of Panton's early mentor is worth a closer look in our Arne Jacobsen collection.

The Ø40 cm size is the one we recommend most often for urban apartments, where ceiling heights are modest and every fixture has to earn its place. Because the sphere is transparent, it carries far less visual weight than its dimensions suggest — hang it over a dining table, in a stairwell or near a window where daylight can play through the acrylic, and the room still feels open. In compact homes across Asian cities, a single sculptural pendant like this often does more for a space than several smaller fittings; our guide to designer lighting for small apartments explains how to get the proportions right. If you prefer to compare silhouettes first, browse the full range of pendant lamps — from quiet opal glass to statement spheres like this one.

Light source: E14, 1 bulb, max 60 W. IP20, indoor. Bulb not included — we recommend an E14 LED (6.5–7 W, 790–806 lm).