Continuing our mid-century modern design series, we explore Japanese-American designer Isamu Noguchi's Akari lamps made from Japanese washi paper, which remain a staple in stylish interiors to this day.
The Akari lamps were designed by Noguchi, who began his career as an artist after dropping out of his premedical studies. He was born in Los Angeles in 1904 to an American mother and a Japanese father,
In 1927 he left the US to work with sculptor Constantin Brancusi in his Paris studio, before travelling the world in the 1920s and 30s ? journeys that would come to influence his work in both art and design.
Isamu Noguchi began his career as a sculptor. Photo courtesy of the David Finn Archive via Wikimedia Commons
While Noguchi started out as a sculptor, he was never wedded to any one creative industry, creating set designs for dancer and choreographer Martha Graham and eventually moving into furniture and product design. His background in sculpture informed Noguchi's furniture designs, which often have organic, undulating shapes.
"Everything is sculpture," Noguchi said. "Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture."
Noguchi designed the first Akari light in 1951
Among Noguchi's best-known pieces are his glass-topped IN-50 coffee table for furniture brand Herman Miller and his Model 312 Cyclone dining table for American company Knoll, but most people probably associate the designer with his Akari lamps.
Made from Japanese...