Designed by V12 and Arkispazio, the Katana Floor Lamp is available through ITRE USA, Inc, distributor of Italian contemporary lighting for over 20 years. Although conceived in 2008, the new white version was unveiled at the 2009 Salone Internazionale del Mobile. The carbon fiber and steel floor lamp is an imposing study in balance, with its two main arms—something in the vein of Samurai swords—carefully stacked on top of each other “by two swift strokes.” In point of fact, the word “katana” means a slender Japanese sword with a single, curved blade.

Katana Floor Lamp. Designed by V12 and Arkispazio.

It is Katana’s lightweight carbon fiber structure that enables the pensile nature of the large lamp. Katana measures approximately 100″ W x 90″ H with a 20″ diameter base, shedding light from on high via its 200-watt-maximum halogen bulb. Katana Floor Lamp is dimmable, with its diffuser painted transparent or lacquered matte white complete with a heat-resistant glass plate. Available in black or white, Katana also looks like Japanese script: its graduating thicknesses as lovingly detailed as the strokes of a calligrapher’s pen. While it retains an Oriental flair, Katana Floor Lamp maintains a spare level of simplicity. It can move easily from contemporary styling to mid-century modern—and looks particularly good alongside other sleek, Asian-inspired designs.

I’d like to see Katana standing on an Emma Gardner rug or pendulously arching above Yothaka’s Raft Daybed. Curl up with a Murakami novel like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or a Kawabata story—”One Arm” immediately comes to mind.