Landscape of Time
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Isamu Noguchi's artwork for the federal plaza, which comprises five precisely arranged granite boulders, provides an area for contemplative retreat. Although the sculpture is located in a public space, the atmosphere created by the ancient stones is one of such silence that it seems like a semi-private park. Visitors become part of the space between and around the stones, and are invited to sit in nature.
Landscape of Time has no definite perimeter. The five massive stones are of varying heights and weights: 2'0" and 7,000 pounds; 8'3" and 5,000 pounds; 6'6" and 4,000 pounds; 1'6" and 2,000 pounds; and 3'6" and 1,500 pounds.
Noguchi said about the site for his artwork: "I'm very pleased. It's a site that invites what I would like to do. That building needs a loving shape. I don't want to make it one of those prideful gestures people go in for these days. The building is all earth material—no metal or brass. Metal sculpture would be wrong for that area." He also said: "The building is people-scale, and makes me think in terms of a people-scale piece."
