Isamu Noguchi — Sculptor & Creator of the Akari Light Sculptures

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a Japanese-American sculptor, landscape architect and designer whose Akari light sculptures are among the most recognised design objects of the twentieth century. Created in Gifu, Japan in 1951, the Akari collection comprises over 200 washi paper and bamboo lantern sculptures — each handmade by Ozeki, the sole manufacturer. Noguchi conceived the Akari not as lamps but as sculptures of light — "akari" means both "light" and "lightness" in Japanese