Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was born in Los Angeles, the son of an Irish-American mother and a Japanese father.  He spent his childhood in Japan and his adolescence and adulthood in the United States, and for the rest of his life, he was at home in both places.

Noguchi moved to New York to become a pre-med student at Columbia University, where he also enrolled in a sculpture class.  Art won out, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927 led to an apprenticeship in the studio of Constantin Brancusi.  When he returned to New York, associations with technological visionary Buckminster Fuller and choreographer Martha Graham allowed him to explore new facets of his talent.

His first widely distributed design was the Radio Nurse of 1937, and the later Guardian Ear, an object containing a microphone, would pick up sounds from a child’s room.  In 1944 he revised a design he had created to illustrate the George Nelson article “How to Make a Table.” The biomorphic coffee table was put into production in 1947 by Herman Miller and became one of his best-known works.

His famous three-legged cylinder lamp was first made as a gift for his sister in 1944 or 1945.  He began designing his beautiful Akari lamps in 1951, which are still manufactured in Gifu, Japan, by the same company that began producing them in the early 1950s.  His wire and wood rocking stools were designed in 1953, and in 1957 Hans Knoll enlarged the small stool to the full-size Cyclone Table as a companion piece to Harry Bertoia’s wire chairs.

From the Fifties on, Noguchi’s focus was on what he called “the sculpture of spaces,” and he designed gardens, playgrounds and plazas.

From the essay “Isamu Noguchi: Art Into Life” by Bruce Altshuler on noguchi.org
Photos from noguchi.org.

Isamu Noguchi, 1951

Bakelite Radio Nurse, 1937
Manufactured by the Zenith Radio Company

Cloud sofa and ottoman, c. 1948
Manufactured by Herman Miller

Custom beech table for William A. M. Burden, 1948

Rocking Stools, 1955
Manufactured by Knoll

Coffee table, 1944
Manufactured by Herman Miller

Cyclone table, 1957
Manufactured by Knoll

Akari floor lamps, 1950s
Manufactured in Gifu, Japan

Pronunciation Guide

Shedding new light

Another extreme departure from the ornate design of earlier periods was in the area of lighting. Many of the major furniture designers created lamps and hanging light fixtures as well. Like other pieces of the period, their lighting was characterized by sleek lines and innovative shapes and materials. Plastic, in particular, fascinated not only the general public but also many of the designers of the day.

George Nelson's bubble lamps have become symbols of the period. He designed them in 1947, and they were in production until the late 1970s. He never gave specific names to the lamps. Rather, they were referred to by numbers. The large saucer was, for example, known only as "Bubble Lamp H-727." When Modernica was allowed to reissue the lamps in the 1990s, they gave them the names Ball, Saucer, Pear, Cigar, etc. In 1998, Modernica received all the original tooling from Herman Miller, and they distribute the lamps worldwide.

Isamu Noguchi designed his well-known cylinder lamp in 1944 and began working on Akari lighting in 1951. In an interview, he explained:

The name akari, which I coined, means in Japanese light as illumination. It also suggests lightness as opposed to weight. The ideograph combines that of the sun and moon. The ideal of akari is exemplified with lightness (as essence) and light (for awareness). The quality is poetic, ephemeral, and tentative. Looking more fragile than they are akari seem to float, casting their light as in passing.

Poul Henningsen's famous artichoke fixture, as well as his halo pendant, are still extremely popular today and are being reproduced or copied by a number of companies and offered in varying price ranges.

Other lighting designers whose lamps and fixtures are synonymous with mid-century are Marion Geller, Gilbert Watrous and Gerald Thurston. Variations of their designs have become so widely recognized that we sometimes forget their innovative ideas revolutionized modern lighting. Their use of tripod bases, cone-shaped, perforated and dome shades in plastic, metal and glass became the standard for much mid-century lighting style.

George Nelson lighting display offered to retailers free of charge by Herman Miller
From a sales brochure, c. 1968
georgenelson.org

Isamu Noguchi's cylinder lamp
noguchi.org

Marion Geller's flying saucer-shaped reflector lamp with tripod base
artnet.com

Poul Henningsen's artichoke light
designlamps.com

Gerald Thurston's tripod lamp
1stdibs.com

Gilbert Watrous's ball-and-socket lamp
 with magnet that held the ball in any position
1stdibs.com