Known affectionately as "the sun" within Vitra's extensive range of Akari Light Sculptures, the Vitra Akari 120A Suspension Light is the largest suspension light in the series. Measuring an impressive 120cm tall, and with a diameter that equals, the Akari 120A Suspension Light is a true giant of contemporary lighting design. As with the whole of the Akari Light Sculpture series the 120A is handmade in a small workshop in Gifu, Japan, by master craftspeople, resulting in an unparalleled level of quality and attention to detail.
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).
