“I consider playgrounds to be primers on form and function; simple, mysterious and evocative; and therefore educational,” Noguchi said in a booklet about him. playground landscape. Perhaps best known for his stone sculptures and Akari lamps, the Japanese artist and designer has always been concerned with the spaces that define childhood, particularly public playgrounds and their impact on young minds.
In 1933, Noguchi proposed redeveloping an entire New York City neighborhood into “Play Mountain,” a massive, unstructured and open terrain project. For example, instead of swings and fast metal slides, Noguchi wanted earthen steps, a band shell and a big hill for sledding and partying. The idea is that it’s just as fun in the winter as it is in the summer, and stimulates children’s imaginations more than the typical prescribed equipment found in city parks. However, then-Parks Commissioner Robert Moses rejected the plan, and despite efforts to have this and other Noguchi designs built in New York, none came to fruition in the city.
A series of short films recreate this little-known history. Eastend Western used hand-painted cels under a podium camera to imagine what these never-built playgrounds would have looked like and how children would have interacted with the unconventional structures. There are concrete mounds with cave-like openings, maze-like sand gardens and asymmetrical devices that tell users “the speed of the swing is determined by the length of the pendulum,” the film says.
The animation was produced simultaneously with the exhibition Noguchi’s New Yorkwill be on display at the Noguchi Museum through September 13. There is also a new monograph that delves into the artist’s playground, a companion book to a major retrospective at the High Museum of Art, and available for pre-order in bookstores. Find the complete movie series on YouTube.
