Sculpting peace: the secret garden of Isamu Noguchi
The UNESCO Headquarters in Paris are home to the Garden of Peace, a unique public landscape by the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi.
Open to visitors, the Japanese garden is distinguished by its organic shapes, gently-sloping paths, and ponds with arched bridges.
Noguchi is known for his modernist sculptures, Akari lamps and the iconic coffee table, but few know that the creation of the UNESCO garden in the late 1950smarked the beginning of his career designing public spaces.
This episode of the UNESCO Courier podcast explores the origins of Noguchi’s work, his motivations for creating a peaceful public space and his choices for its design. It is produced in collaboration with the Noguchi Museum in New York, which holds the world's largest and most extensive collection of the artist’s sculptures, drawings, models, and designs—and also features a public garden.
An episode by Anuliina Savolainen and Gina Doubleday, production by Emmanuel Rudowski.
With the voices of François Wibaux (presentation) and Matthew Linzmeier.
Archival sound extract credits:
1 and 2: Isamu Noguchi interview recordings for Arnold Eagle film Noguchi: A Sculptor's World - Arnold Eagle, 1968. Courtesy of Arnold Eagle Estate.
3. Isamu Noguchi interviewed by Stephen Horenstein and Micah Morrison about the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, June 1981. Courtesy of the Noguchi Museum in New York.
Photo © UNESCO / Christelle Alix
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