Most pendants are round. Hang one over the middle of a long table and the people at each end eat in half-shadow. The Hashira Linear Pendant Lamp deals with that by stretching the shade to 140 cm, so the light runs the length of the table instead of pooling in the centre.
It belongs to the Hashira range Norm Architects designed for Audo Copenhagen, the Danish brand that was called MENU until 2023. Norm Architects was set up in Copenhagen in 2008 by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Kasper Rønn, and the idea for Hashira came from a trip to see traditional washi paper makers in Japan. A paper lantern spreads a bare bulb into an even glow. Hashira does the same job with raw linen stretched over a steel frame.
A family of upright lamps, and one that lies down
Until 2024 every Hashira lamp stood upright: a tall floor lamp, a table lamp, a cylinder pendant, a flush ceiling lamp, a wall light and a cordless portable lamp. The linear pendant keeps the same linen, the same proportions and the same soft glow, and simply turns the form horizontal.
Hashira Floor Lamp, Raw.
Hashira Pendant, Raw.
Hashira Portable Table Lamp, Raw.
How it lights a room
The shade lets light out both ways. Some falls on the table, some goes up and washes the ceiling, and the linen glows in between. That gives you enough light to eat, read or work by, without the hard circle and sharp shadows you get under a downlight. Audo calls it cosy, non-invasive light, which is a fair description.
Inside is a single LED tube: 16 W, 2700 K, 1900 lumens. 2700 K is the warm white most people want over a dinner table. The tube can be replaced, so the lamp doesn't have to be thrown out when the LED eventually fades, and it dims on a TRIAC dimmer.
Hashira Linear Pendant Lamp, Raw, switched on.
The details
- Designer: Norm Architects, 2024
- Shade: hand-made linen in Raw on a welded steel frame. The shade is held on with magnets instead of screws.
- Size: 140 cm long, 18 cm high, 18 cm deep
- Suspension: hangs on wires, with a clear cord up to 400 cm long
- Light: replaceable LED tube, 16 W, 2700 K, 1900 lm, TRIAC dimmable
- Materials: steel, linen, PS plastic
- Warranty: 2 years
Sizing it to your table
A 140 cm shade suits a table roughly 200 to 240 cm long. That leaves 30 to 50 cm of table clear at each end, so the lamp reads as part of the table rather than hanging past it. On a shorter table, around 160 to 180 cm, a single Hashira Pendant or a Hashira Cluster usually sits better.
Hang the bottom of the shade about 70 to 80 cm above the table top. Lower than that and it blocks the view across the table; much higher and the light spreads before it reaches the plates. The 400 cm cord means high and raked ceilings are not a problem.
In Australia a hardwired pendant has to be connected by a licensed electrician. If you want to dim it, ask them to fit a dimmer rated for a TRIAC (leading-edge) LED load.
Questions we get asked
Is the Hashira Linear Pendant dimmable?
Yes, with a TRIAC dimmer. Your electrician can confirm which model suits your switch plate.
Can the LED be replaced?
Yes. It uses one replaceable 16 W LED tube, so the lamp outlasts the light source.
What size table does it suit?
About 200 to 240 cm long. For a shorter or round table, look at the Hashira Pendant or Cluster.
Keep reading
Browse all Audo Copenhagen lighting, the full Audo Copenhagen range, or read our piece on another Audo light that went its own way, the Dancing Pendant.
Images: Audo Copenhagen, via Design Mode International.
