Works and gardens of Isamu Noguchi

Theory of Landscape History Parin Shah LA 8808

Isamu Noguchi was a sculptor, designer, architect, and craftsman. Throughout his life he struggled to see, alter, and recreate his natural
surroundings.
The blurring of boundaries in Isamu Noguchi’s work mirrored his personal history: a fusion of his Japanese father’s Asian heritage and the
American modernity of his Californian mother.
He was sent to Indiana for schooling in 1918, and in 1922 he apprenticed to the sculptor Gutzon Borglum in Connecticut. Noguchi decided to
become an artist and left Columbia in 1925. A John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship in 1927 enabled him to go to Paris,
where he worked as Constantin Brancusi’s studio assistant. Brancusi's engagement with the abstract and his belief in understanding the pre-
disposed forms of his materials made a strong impression on Noguchi. In Paris, he became friendly with Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Alberto
Giacometti and Jules Pascin.
Returning to New York in 1929, Noguchi found little acceptance for his abstract sculptures. His sculpted portraits, however, earned him not only a
new degree of recognition, but a living as well. While these commissions increased his popularity, the work seemed stifling, and in the thirties he
moved to Mexico City to work on a large three-dimensional mural with the painter Diego Rivera. While not his own work, the mural was closer in
scale to the large pieces he longed to create. His work in Mexico City eventually won him the opportunity to create the entrance to the Associated
Press building in New York. With this, Noguchi was able to work on a large scale project of his own.
When the US joined World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Noguchi campaigned to improve the lot of Japanese-Americans,
many of whom were herded into detention camps. After the War, he contributed to the reconstruction of Japanese industry when the city of Gifu
asked him to revive its stricken paper lantern industry. Noguchi moved there with Yamaguchi, whom he had met and married in 1950. They lived
in a traditional wooden house and he developed new designs which harnessed the ancient skills of the Gifu lantern-makers to produce modern
electrified versions of traditional candle-lit lanterns. Beautifully shaped and capable of folding perfectly flat, his Akari light sculptures are still
made by hand in Gifu today from the mino-gami paper that comes from the bark of mulberry trees.

Life of Isamu Noguchi

Isamu sought solace in Kyoto, where he became enthralled by the exquisite simplicity of the ancient Buddhist rock gardens.

He was inspired by and collaborated with many of the inventive American architects, choreographers, and painters of his time.

With his long-time friend, Buckminster Fuller, he constructed models, planned outdoor projects, and investigated the ways in which people live
and thrive in their environments.

By creating sets for the choreographers Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and George Ballenchine, he continued this investigation. He was
well respected by many artists, including Frida Kahlo, Arshille Gorky, and Willem de Kooning, but never belonged to any movement or school.

For the rest of his life, Noguchi applied his sculptural sensibility to everything he created: from his mulberry paper Akari lights and Martha
Graham’s dance sets, to the mass-manufactured Zenith Radio Nurse and the stone gardens he landscaped at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters and
Lever House in New York.

His gardens and fountains were transformations meant to bring out the beauty their locations had always possessed. He believed that through
sculpture and architecture, one could better understand the struggle with nature. It is that search for understanding which brings together his
many and varied works.

Noguchi died in December of 1988 at the age of 84, but his influence continues to spread.

Life of Isamu Noguchi

Notable works by Noguchi
•Japanese Garden at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, •Red Cube (1968), HSBC Building, New York
France •Untitled Red (1965-66), Honolulu Academy of Arts

•A bridge in Peace Park, Hiroshima, Japan •Sky Gate (1977), Honolulu Hale, Hawaii

•Kodomo no Kuni, a children's playground in Yokohama, •Portal, Justice Center Complex, Cleveland, Ohio.
Japan •Dodge Fountain and Philip A. Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan

•Bayfront Park, 1980-1990, Miami, Florida (created in collaboration with Shoji Sadao)

•Sunken Garden for Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript •Black Sun (1969), Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington
Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut •California Scenario (1980-1982), Costa Mesa, California
•Sunken Garden for Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza, New •Bolt of Lightning... Memorial to Ben Franklin (1984),
York Franklin Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

•Gardens for the IBM headquarters, Armonk, New York •Landscape of the Cloud, in the lobby of 666 Fifth Avenue,

•Billy Rose Sculpture Garden, Israel Museum, Jerusalem New York

•Playscapes, a children's playground, Atlanta, Georgia •Lillie & Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden (1986) for the

•Bust of Martha Graham, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Honolulu, Hawaii •His final project was the design for Moerenuma Park, a 400

•Tsuneko-san (1931), Honolulu Academy of Arts acre (1.6 km²) park for Sapporo, Japan. Designed in 1988

•Sculpture for First National City Bank Building, Fort Worth, shortly before his death, it is completed and opened to the
Texas public in 2004.

Notable works by Isamu Noguchi

 Reflects Noguchi's efforts to reconcile his Japanese and
American cultural influences...

The spirit of Japan is not so obvious in the rest of the garden,

but it may be recognized in the triangulated and asymmetric
composition and in the rather oblique references the various
elements supply.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 From Isamu Noguchi’s Biography

Originally, Noguchi was only supposed to create the delegates' patio, a roughly
triangular small area at the end of the main secretariat building, intended as a sort
of outside room. It was placed in difficult relation to this building.

He finally convinced the architects and the Artistic Counselors that the space
between the main building (1) and the building 3 should be bridged and made his
proposals for a Japanese "inspired" Garden called – The Garden of Peace.

They allocated $35,000 for the construction of; design of a walk, a cascade of water,
and a flowing pond below.

In the beginning he hoped only to integrate the two levels by raising portions of the
lower one containing greenery and trees.

However, as he elaborated on the model it became apparent to him that it would

be ideal if the area below could be transformed into a major sculptural effort
through the introduction of rocks and so forth.

There was no budget for rocks, not for any trees either, and the subsequent
development of the garden was due to the persistence and the good will of many
people...

Inside a ravine in a brook in the mountains on the island of Shikoku, Noguchi

selected each stone, following the plan that he had devised in Tokyo. There could
be no waste, such as might be afforded in Japan, no hauling of stones that were not
to be specifically useful, and for a particular shape and a purpose.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 This whole operation was remarkable. Collecting the rocks; setting them up in a trial
area in Tokushima; getting the water basins (chozubachi) and stepping-stones in
Kyoto; quarrying the Fountain Stone in Okayama; quarrying and carving on Shodo
shima (island) the stone bridge, the various stone lanterns, and stepping-stones –
All this was done before any money had been collected, such was the credit of the
purpose – eighty-eight tons of stone were shipped to Paris.

The building of the garden in Paris did not go smoothly…

By the winter, Noguchi had managed to get only two rocks placed...

He realized that French riggers could handle marble statuary but not rocks on a
rough terrain. He requested three gardeners from Japan to work with him.

Japanese master gardener Toemon Sano the 16th recently restored the garden, in
keeping with Noguchi's will.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 Serene composition of flowering cherry trees, plum trees,
magnolias, lotuses, bamboo, rocks, and water— representing
Flowery path the harmony between nature and mankind.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 Delegates Patio, Peace Fountain at the
entrance to the garden…

A tall water source stone, the largest stone in

the garden, stands as a sort of monolith in a
rectangular pool of water cascading over a
mirror-image inscription of the Japanese
character, 'wa' meaning 'peace and harmony'.

The waterfall itself is composed of two stoned

which may be read as 'man‘.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 The water flows down from the Peace Stone
to a concrete channel that steps down a
slope into the sunken garden, breaking from
its straight channel into a series of curvilinear
pools at the bottom.
The pathway – represents Buddhism
metaphors for passage from the material life
into the Pure Land. The raised paved area is
the Pure Land from which one arrives and
departs via the stepping stones.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 The raised paved area in the centre – recalls
the 'Happy Land', the land of the dead in the
Buddhist religion.
One arrives on it and departs from it again –
with time barriers of stepping-stones
between – it is the land of voyage, the place
for dancing and music.
The upper level, has little to do with
conventional Japanese garden. But enough of
the Japanese tradition remains to make the
garden stand out from its setting.

The result – a stark contrast

between old and new,the natural
and the man-made.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
 The lower garden – derives more directly from the
Japanese garden than does the upper level – In
accordance with the nature of the commission.
The contrast between a stark, 20th century version of
modernism is woven with the more traditional garden
through the use of a stream and path armature that
anchors the spaces and binds them both together.
The plantings are distributed amongst these stone
skeleton.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
The two old 'chozubachi‘ (water basin) are included which are part of the Japanese garden. An
old stone or some broken fragment from an old stupa is used to make water basin.

UNESCO Garden, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1956-58)

A sunken sculptural garden of 1700 sq.mt, modernist example, reinterpretation of the Japanese aesthetics...
Noguchi's garden, filled with water, as seen from above; a circular incision in
the plaza

The base of the garden is set one story below street level. The opening in the
plaza – bordered on top by a metal railing, allowing viewers to stand comfortably
at the edge and look into the space below.

The space is surrounded on all sides by floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing the

garden to be seen from the inside, and opening up the lower level of the
building to the outdoors.

Sunken Garden, Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza, New York City(1961-64)

Extremely spare composition; seven wildly – eroded river stones from Japan serves as
the focus of the landscape.

The largest four are set in concentric circles of granite pavers, which replace the raked
gravel of the Japanese garden; the other three are scattered nearby.

The regularity of the pavers is interrupted by serpentine lines that suggest waves. This
reference to water is strengthened in the summer, when garden becomes a shallow
pool, with water flowing from two concentric rings to low fountain jets.

One of the strongest example of real spiritual energy. Spatial composition achieves
the force of object. Noguchi has fused fixed objects and continual movement to
create a composition neither pond, nor pool, nor traditional fountain. Here, he
meant to suggest a levitation of the stones from the earth.

Sunken Garden, Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza, New York City(1961-64)

 Rough – hewn boulders stand in a landscape of grass, gravel and trees...

A granite path crosses diagonally an area of bluegrass. On one side of this is a large rock with water running down its
surface into a small pool, and on the other a composition of six large rocks.

The two gardens, separated by a three-level glass walled bridge which houses escalators, are visible from all the interior
offices.

Gardens of the Past, IBM Headquarters, Armonk, New York(1964)

 Perhaps the first and certainly the most accomplished introduction
of integrated , inorganic, nontraditional industrial materials.

The hard, shiny richly coloured convex and concave disks

foreshadow much in the recent landscape-as-art movement.

Scan and insert picture

from the reference book.

Represents mankind’s future… Only a few trees remain… And a tiny

spots of grass… The space is covered with stone and dominated by
massive sculptural forms. A large black dome near the centre emerges
from the earth to explore the universe. Diagrams of nuclear
formations, stellar constellations and computer circuitry, are carved in
this. A concave red concrete pool, meant to resemble a satellite dish.

Critical formulas of scientific development in the dial-like marble semi-

circle at the other end. Between them is a red concavity with a
fountain inside, and facing this is a bronze sculpture of two
interlocking helix, the code of life.

Gardens of the Future, IBM Headquarters, Armonk, New York(1964)

 Embodiment of California through an artist’s eyes...

Inspired by Japanese garden structure, with an array of

contrasting elements: natural and formed objects;
mounds and flat spaces; wet and dry spaces.
The forms and symbols chosen to represent California in
the work reflect both a basic understanding of archetypal
units of California, and of an overall mystery.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 Entering into the complex in
the direction of the freeway
reveals subtle changes.
Paths of flagstone of a rose
hue draw inward, hinting at
something more.

Continuing into this space,

there is a fountain of stone,
capped by stainless steel,
marking the transition into a
different spatial envelope,
the "Energy Fountain“ also
representing the vitality of
California's natural wonders
and human population.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 The individual piece titled by Noguchi, the Spirit of the Lima Bean, is both a wonder of
construction and visually remarkable. Simple in its meaning, the large grouping of rocks reflects
the essence of the Lima Bean, the crop that was farmed in the area prior to development.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 Extremes of California's
natural features are
displayed from the hot
dry deserts (represented
by the flag stone paved
areas - like scorched
crackled earth) to lush
meadows and redwood
forests.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 The Forest Walk

A mound called "The

Desert Land" is planted
with succulents and
cactus. The contrasting
redwood grove of "The
Forest Walk" is located
opposite the "Desert
Land."

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 A triangular wedge of
polished Sierra granite is the
terminus of the water flow.
Called "Water Use," it
represents the infinite
consumption of water, as
well as the ocean towards
which the water flows.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 Water is the most symbolic feature, the source of the California dream. It is expressed in
several ways including the sculptural "Energy Fountain" and the stream which divides the
garden flowing from the "Source" to the "Use."

The meanings are many in human society and in California: water is the basis of life, it
shapes our landscape, provides our crops, sustains our cities, and has been a battle ground
literally, politically and environmentally.

Water flows from a tall wedge the "Water Source," which represents the mountain ranges.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
 Sculpted granite benches occupy This mound topped with a large polished granite monolith called
various positions around the "Land Use" almost easy to overlook but provides a commentary on
garden. our use of the land with this massive man-shaped object placed atop
a land form.

Noguchi’s hidden jewel, enclosed in industrialism, sits still today as it did when Noguchi first
installed it, slowly aging and growing wilder by the day...

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (1980-82)

Remarkable landscape of 1.6 acre tucked between two clusters of office buildings and a parking garage.
As the Latin America Daily Post referred to him so eloquently, “He is a curator. A curator of time and space. A creator of a continuum of
the universe that is only known to him.” For those preoccupied with landscape and with space, he did something magical.

in 1981, the Latin American Daily Post beautifully articulated the artist’s ability for capturing space, "This is a man who has brought
clarity to natures order. It is a vision of time and space made tangible by one who lives in the present, but scans all and perhaps more,
of what is Homo sapiens."

It is the rocks that make a garden... Plants of all sorts, however large the trees, are in a way like weeds: they come and go, but the
essential quality of a garden is maintained through the solid disposition of rocks... They are its bones...
– Noguchi

“The art of stone in a Japanese garden is that of placement. Its ideal does not deviate from that of nature... But I am also a sculptor of
the West. I place my mark and do not hide.“ - Noguchi