Noguchi — model for United Nations Playground, 1952 (by Remiss63)

Noguchi — model for United Nations Playground, 1952

Another view of the plaster model for the United Nations can be seen here. Noguchi worked intensely on the design of this playground and felt great disappointment that it went unrealized. Designing public playgrounds was one of his dreams for applying his sculpture to benefiting the real life of citizens.

Noguchi’s first built playground was sponsored by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The Piedmont Playground of 1976 included many ideas and designs from the 1940s and 1950s.

Check here for an overview of Noguchi’s designs for sculptural playgrounds.

I believe Noguchi’s terracotta design titled, “A World I Did Not Make” references this design for the UN Playground. They are both from the year 1952.

Archival image from Isamu Noguchi: A Study of Space by Ana Maria Torres (New York: Monacelli Press, 2000).