Vitra Noguchi Freeform Sofa

Founded in 1950, Vitra is a Swiss company dedicated to improving the quality of homes, offices and public spaces through the power of design.

Vitra's furniture and concepts are developed in an intensive design process pairing engineering excellence with the creative genius of leading international designers. The result: interiors, furniture and accessories that are vibrant, functional, and inspiring.

Longevity of materials, construction and aesthetics are Vitra's leading principles, as demonstrated by their Classics – many in continuous production since the 1950s. Initiatives like the Vitra Campus architecture, the Vitra Design Museum, workshops, publications, collections and archives are all integral elements of Vitra's vision and culture.

Isamu Noguchi left Columbia University as a pre-med student to pursue his art full time. Noguchi supported himself early on by sculpting portrait busts, leading him to meet famed dance choreographer Martha Graham. The fortuitous meeting led to a 30-year collaboration, with Noguchi designing and transposing mythological elements into abstract form for his visionary sets and costumes for The Martha Graham Dance Company.

In the 1940s, Noguchi began to experiment in furniture design. One of his designs, a rocking stool with a unique wire base, caught the eye of Hans Knoll who introduced the design, with a matching table, in 1955. Using Noguchi’s original drawings, and in collaboration with the Noguchi Foundation, Knoll reintroduced the tables in 2003.

Although he developed products for Zenith, Steuben Glassworks, Herman Miller, Vitra, and Knoll, Isamu Noguchi is not defined by his industrial design. He is most remembered as a sculptor, landscape artist, and set designer. His work, including his famous stone sculptures, can be seen at the Isamu Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York.