Contemporary Furniture Designer: Functional And Ergonomic

By Author: zack Fair
Total Articles: 76
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Isamu Noguchi was a prominent Japanese-American artist and landscape architect who was born in 1904. He designed several lamps and furniture pieces that were mass-produced that are still being produced and sold today. His designs were deliberately made to make something useful in everyday life, as well as look attractive and contemporary. He is mainly known for his lamps and some pieces of furniture.

He had two different designs for lamps. One was for the Akari lamp and the other for the cylinder lamp. The Akari lamps were made of paper and bamboo and were resonant of his trip to Japan and the love he had for the lighting lamps of this nature provided. The cylinder lamp was one of the first lighting designs that Isamu Noguchi created and consisted of a lampshade that was made of transparent plastic with organically shaped trio of legs.

Isamu Noguchi had several different designs for furniture that consisted of stools, tables and a sofa and ottoman combination. The rocking stool combined playfulness with ergonomic appeal. It had a slightly arched base that allowed the stool to rock gently in every direction when ...
... in use. The edge of the base was protected by a contoured edge and a plastic support. The design and completed stool were reminiscent of the hourglass shape of African stools. The seat of the rocking stool was made of wood and the rest was made of chrome-plated steel rods, giving it a very appealing look that would work with any décor theme.

The freeform sofa and ottoman that Isamu Noguchi designed look almost like an enlarged sculpture of a river stone that has been gently rolled along the bottom of a river. The shape is slender and graceful, rather than of a bulky nature, making them fit in with any décor as well as being able to work with a small area in providing seating that an otherwise bulky piece of furniture would not be able to accomplish. He was able to emphasize this form with the use of thin, comfortable padding and upholstery that came in a variety of natural colors.

Isamu Noguchi had a few different table designs that were as varied as the names that they were given. The dinette fin table had a top that rested on three legs, one of which was wooden and shaped like a rudder, and the other two were made of tubular steel. The cyclone dining table was originally planned to be another design for the rocking stool, but was made larger to provide a place to sit at, rather than on, and was made of wire and wood. The prismatic table was designed using only geometric forms. It is a three-legged side table with a hexagonal top made from folded aluminum sheets. This design was inspired by the traditional Japanese origami techniques. And the coffee table design featured a glass top that rested on rosewood supports that were interconnected. Later he refurbished his design for the coffee table, making the base consist of two identical wooden elements, although one was reversed and attached to the other at a right angle.

Isamu Noguchi did not start out as a famed contemporary designer, but rather fell into the genre as he made objects that were functional as well as ergonomic in shapes that were seen in nature. His use of natural materials and colors helped to emphasize his liking for all things organic.