Born to a famous Danish actress mother, Poul Henningsen started practicing traditional functionalistic architecture, but over the years his professional interests changed to focus mainly on lighting which is what he is most famous for. He was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the World Wars. His most valuable contribution to design was in the field of lighting. He carefully studied reflecting and baffling of the light rays from the bulb to achieve glare-free and uniform illumination. In 1925, one of these fixtures won first prize for modern lighting at the International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris. His light fixtures were manufactured by Louis Poulsen and his theories were still practiced by Louis Poulsen Lighting. Other notable designs by him include the PH Grand Piano, examples of which are included in several prominent twentieth-century design collections, including that of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. He also designed Glassalen for Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

The name Poul Henningsen is only used to describe the characteristics of the goods made to the original design, and not as a trademark.