The Timeless Appeal of Noguchi’s Akari Lamps
There’s something almost weightless about Noguchi’s Akari Light Sculptures: paper, bamboo, and air held in precise balance. We’ve used them in many of our projects at Shapeless Studio, not just because they’re beautiful (though they are), but because they do something quietly powerful in a room. They offer softness. Shape. Diffused light. A rhythm that’s present, but never overwhelming.
The story of the Akari lights begins in 1951, when Isamu Noguchi traveled to Gifu, Japan a city known for its centuries-old tradition of lantern-making. He collaborated with local craftspeople to create a new kind of light object. Each piece is made by hand using washi paper from the bark of the mulberry tree and a thin bamboo rib frame stretched over a sculptural wire form. The process is slow, deliberate, and deeply tactile. Even the shadows they cast feel handmade.
He called them Akari, meaning both “light” and “weightless.” That duality is key, they illuminate, but they also float. They are sculptural, but they live lightly in a space.
Their influence on modern design is subtle but far-reaching. Akari lights did something radical by embracing softness. At a time when the modernist movement leaned heavily on industrial materials and hard edges, Noguchi’s use of paper and bamboo brought warmth back into the conversation.
We often use Akari lights in bedrooms, living rooms, and reading corners; places that benefit from their quiet presence. Their diffused light warms a space without overpowering it. Their form brings texture and volume, but never clutters. Even the simplest Akari shape adds a kind of balance, a counterpoint to harder materials like wood, tile, or stone.
There’s also something generous about how they live in a room. They don’t demand attention, but they draw the eye. They create intimacy, turning corners of a home into spaces that feel considered and calm.
In that way, they mirror our approach at Shapeless. We believe that homes are shaped by feeling just as much as form. Akari lights offer both. They remind us that modern design can be soft. That light can be sculpture. And that quiet can still have presence.
If you’d like to talk more about lighting, atmosphere, or how to bring softness into your space, you can always book a consultation with us here. Sometimes a simple fixture can change the whole tone of a room.
