Above Pendant

The Above pendant by Danish designer Mads Odgård embodies minimalist design — function, form and quality first. Its graphic triangular shade casts a pleasant downward light, while the arch-shaped opening at the top (the "Above") reveals the cord and creates a soft, ambient upward glow.

Mads Odgård belongs to a generation of Danish industrial designers who insist that an object should be no more complicated than its purpose demands. His guiding motto — less is more — runs through every line of Above, which reduces the pendant to a single, confident geometric gesture. For Louis Poulsen, the Copenhagen lighting house founded in 1874 and shaped by Poul Henningsen's pioneering work with glare-free illumination in the 1920s, Above is a contemporary continuation of the same idea: the shade conceals the light source from normal viewing angles, so the eye registers glow rather than glare.

That glare-free character makes Above an easy pendant to live with in compact homes. Hung low over a dining table or kitchen island, it delivers focused task light without dominating the room visually — a real advantage in the open-plan layouts and modest ceiling heights typical of city apartments across Asia. A single pendant suits an intimate two-seater table, while a row of two or three creates a calm rhythm over a longer counter or workbench. The white version recedes quietly into bright, Scandinavian-style interiors, while the black makes a sharper graphic statement against pale walls. For more ideas on lighting smaller spaces, see our guide to designer lighting for small apartments.

Explore the full range in our pendant lamps collection, and if you are comparing Louis Poulsen classics, our PH 5 pendant buying guide explains what to look for in a Danish designer pendant.

Light source: E27 (E26 compatible), 1 bulb, max 100 W. IP20, indoor. Bulb not included — we recommend an E27 LED (9.5–13.5 W, 1521 lm), 2700–3000 K.