6 Iconic Lighting Design from “The Original” Exhibition

“The Original” Exhibition at Design Sight 21_21  

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT is currently holding the exhibition “The Original” through June, 2023. Takahiro Tsuchida, a design journalist, is Exhibition Director. “The Original” is meant to be product designs that heavily influenced the products that followed. “The Original is endowed with a fascination to ensure its lasting influence, and its essence will remain long afterwards,” according to their website. 

On display at the exhibition is several iconic lighting products. 

Le Sfere model 2109/16/14 designed by Gino Sarfatti

Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985) was born into an affluent Jewish family in Venice, Italy. He later moved to Milan where he had his first encounter with lighting, an engineering project to transform a glass vase into a lamp. Throughout his career, he developed more than 700 luminaires as the creative engine behind Arteluce, the company he founded in 1939 which brought premier lighting into the 20th century combining innovative ideas with groundbreaking design.

Saffatti designed Sfere in 1959, which is one of the largest glass lamps he designed. It includes a single sphere model up to a composition of twenty-four arranged in a circular manner to form a chandelier. Each blown opal glass sphere is held in place by a painted steel ring that embraces it and helps to define its refined aesthetics.

Taraxacum 88 designed by Achille Castiglioni

Achille Castiglioni (1918 – 2002) was an Italian architect and designer. Throughout his career, he designed many products including wristwatch, radiogram and lighting with his brother. Taraxacum” chandelier was designed for Flos in 1960. 

Akari designed by Isamu Noguchi

In 1951, Japanese American designer Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988)  visited an old chochin-making town in Gifu, Japan. Inspired, he started designing washi lamps using traditional chochin making methods. Named “Akari,” he designed a variety of washi lamp products, which are still made by Gifu chochin craftsmen using the original methods. “Akari” series products are available from “Noguchi Shop” if you live in North America.

Minomushi designed by Issey Miyake

Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake (1938-2022), who is also the founder of Design Sight 21_21, designed a series of lighting products named “IN-EI” (Japanese for “shadow, shadiness, nuance) collaborating with Italian lighting manufacturer Artemide. IN-EI won the IF Award in 2013.  The products come from the intersection of creativity and mathematics, resulting in clothing that can be folded flat and become 3D shapes, starting from a single piece of cloth.  Each lampshade is created using 2 or 3D mathematic principals, where light and shade harmoniously alternate. Minomushi (bagwarm) is one of the products from the IN-EI collection. 

LAMPASS designed by Fumio Sasa

Designer Fumio Sasa worked for Crystal Glass and designed “Lampass” in 1958. It has recently been re-issued by Yamagiwa. 

K- Series for YAMAGIWA designed by Shiro Kuramata

Shiro Kuramata (1934-1991) is Japanese interior designer who was globally recognized for his unique style. He designed K-series for YAMAGIWA in 1972, which looked like a ghost wearing sheet. It’s been supported by his fans for for decades and has never been discontintued.