DesignerDeco

Isamu Noguchi

Posted on 17. Feb, 2009 by DesignerDeco in Modern Furniture Designers

The “East meets West” in the designs and styles created by Isamu Noguchi in the furniture and sculptures that he made. Literally, the meshing of two completely different cultures is also in Noguchi’s bloodline, with a Japanese father and an American mother. Noguchi made pieces of furniture that reflected his lineage and his upbringing, a perfect combination of the two cultures that he grew up in.

The personal life of Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi was born to Leonie Gilmour, an American mother and to Yone Noguchi, a Japanese poet who was then living in Los Angeles. Leonie and the young Isamu lived in Tokyo, Japan until he was sent back to attend high school in Indiana. After high school, Noguchi, then known as Sam Gilmour, went on to Columbia University to study pre-medicine and also took sculpting classes at night. Two years in his pre-med studies though, he quit and decided to pursue his artistic conquests in sculpting. It was around this time that he took the name Noguchi.

After spending time in New York and Paris to study and develop sculpting techniques, Noguchi then tried his hand at selling abstract sculptures. These, however, did not fare well at the time, so he had to make ends meet with the profit he made from sculpted portrait busts.

The design ethics of Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi’s designs were the perfect combinations of the aesthetics and cultures of his diverse background. He believed that though in Japanese culture objects such as stone sculptures in a garden are meant to be in harmony with the rest of its surroundings, his Western beliefs and upbringing made him believe that some have to stand out. In most of his works, Noguchi expressed his struggle with and against nature.

Popular works of Isamu Noguchi

Aside from his sculptures and other works of art, Noguchi also made a number of popular functional pieces. One of the well-known Noguchi pieces was the three-legged coffee table. It was a glass-topped fixture that stood on three sculpted legs. This piece was commissioned for an article by George Nelson titled “How to Make a Table.” Though the exquisite coffee table was conceptualized in 1947, it was reproduced again in 1984.

Noguchi also made seating fixtures such as free-form sofas. These sofas mirrored the style he used in making the Noguchi coffee table, rounded corners and free-flowing instead of the usual oblong or round shapes. Noguchi also made the rocking stools that had steel rods, which arranged in a haphazard way but still provided enough support for the stools’ occupants.

Noguchi’s designs were also marketed by modern furniture conglomerates such as Knoll, Vitra, and Henry Miller.

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