The Vitra Akari UF4-33N Floor Lamp serves as the tallest floor lamp in the whole range of Akari Lighting Sculptures, standing at almost two metres in height. The Ikari lamp is a true design classic, and the range continues to be made by master craftspeople in Gifu, Japan, a province celebrated for its relationship with the traditional paper lantern. Noguchi first introduced the world to his creation in 1951, and the love affair shows no sign of abating, with the Akari range set to remain a popular creation for generations to come. It's a truly great piece of forever design and a statement piece by any measure.
Isamu Noguchi was an American-Japanese designer who originally trained as a sculptor and brought a sculptural sensibility to everything he created: lighting, furniture, gardens and stage sets. He studied sculpture, after dropping out of medical school, in late 1920s New York and then in Paris as an assistant to Constantin Brancusi.
Noguchi designed a range of paper Akari lights throughout the 1950s and 1960s, alongside the popular organic furniture he made in curvy sculpted wood now part of the Vitra Collection, such as the Freeform Sofa and Coffee Table. He was equally prolific as a landscape architect; he recreated the ancient Buddhist stone gardens he had loved in Kyoto at Lever House in New York (1951), UNESCO in Paris (1951), the Yale campus (1960) and Jerusalem’s Israel Museum (1960).