The first time I saw a Noguchi paper lantern hanging nearly from ceiling to floor in the corner of a room in the earlier years of my interiors career, my mind was blown. This isn't the sort of lighting idea you come across in a house in a suburban town in England, after all. What it taught me, however, is that there aren't really any rules when it comes to how to light a room, and if you can imagine it, it can almost certainly be brought to life.
What I didn't know at the time was that I was looking at the work of one of the most important designers. Isamu Noguchi was an American-Japanese artist, sculptor, designer, and more, whose legacy is found in incredible design work that even casual interior design enthusiasts would recognize.
While I must admit I'm partial to a Noguchi mid-century coffee table, it's the Akari light sculptures that captured my imagination most. For their form, yes, but also for that realization: wait, I can hang a pendant light around the edge of a room?
"It's such an outdated idea that pendants should be central, just because that is where they've always been," interior designers Amber Pan and Michelle Song of Studio ŪMA agree. "It's better to place lighting specific to your layout, and put it where you'll want to do things and need to be able to see. A ceiling light next to a wall creates a little cocoon where you can sit and read and get all cozy — an instant library nook."
"Sculptural and interesting, it will draw people into those areas," the designers continue. "Because you don't need to walk under it, you can go long and low with your lighting choice." This is where designs like Noguchi's Akari sculptures come into their own.
"The bulb is at eye height, so the more soft and diffusing the shade is, the better," Amber and Michelle add. "Covered linen or other gauzy materials are a good option. Think of these corner pendant lights as being more like candlelight, giving you that same ambience."
Of course, it's not quite as easy as just exchanging a light fixture in many homes. This lighting trend comes with the requirement of rewiring your ceiling to position pendants in corners or around the edges.
However, it's possible to fake the look without having to call in the electricians. You could hang something like IKEA's STRALA Portable LED Light Source from the ceiling, for example, or use a rechargeable, remote-controlled bulb, like this one from Philips. But, if you're able to wire in a new fitting, it's one of those design choices that will elevate your home even more if you can control your hanging pendant from the switches when you enter the room.
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So, while you might call it a lighting trend, this way of lighting your home has been around for decades, making it something more of a design classic by this point.
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