5 Public Landscapes of Isamu Noguchi

With a body of work spanning sculpture, dance, furniture, lightning, and landscapes, Isamu Noguchi is one of the most revered figures in the 20th-century canon. Buckminster Fuller once called described him as "a scientist-artist…one of the rare question-askers and responders" and others have said he's a traditional sculptor who makes contemporary images that relate to history. Historian Martin Friedman notes that "his large-scale architectural conceptions have more in common with the awesome structures of Mesoamerica, Borobudur, and Angkor Wat than current forms." Here, we take a look at four of his public spaces, which feature abstracted forms, monolithic elements, organic influences, and visual references to history.