Noguchi In Paris: The Unesco Garden

by Marc Treib, Isamu Noguchi

This two-volume work presents the results of five seasons of fieldwork in the Tripolitanian pre-desert plateau, once a thriving settlement as the remains of ancient walls and farmsteads attest. The UNESCO garden, landscaped in 1958 by the Japanese sculptor, Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), has influenced the field of landscape architecture as well as modern sculpture. It marked a turning point in Noguchi's artistic career. He turned resolutely abstract in later garden and courtyard designs and never again made references to Japan in such a direct way. Using the archives of UNESCO in Paris and the Isamu Noguchi Foundation in Long Island City, Marc Treib traces the origins and development of the project. He discusses the debates behind the arts programme for UNESCO House, and draws comparisons with two other gardens in Japan. Historic and contemporary photographs present the development of the design, and its colours and textures throughout the seasons. This is the first book to present an in-depth study on this important garden by the great sculptor.

Genres: Landscape Architecture

146 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kira Lum (Lumpyplume) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A discussion of Noguchi's UNESCO garden, where an American sculptor was hired to create a garden "in the Japanese style." Treib discusses site-specificity, the politics behind UNESCO's Paris headquarters and its art program, issues of race and nationality, and gives a hint at Noguchi's importance on sixties landscape architecture (which of course means the '60s and beyond).