The Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs celebrates the completion of the Noguchi Playscapes restoration, a sculptural playground installation located in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Noguchi Playscapes was designed by internationally renowned sculptor, designer, and architect Isamu Noguchi and completed in 1976.

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and Mayor Shirley Franklin invited city residents and art enthusiasts to the unveiling of the newly restored Noguchi Playscapes, located in Piedmont Park. The unveiling took place Monday, June 1, 2009 at 11:00am. Mayor Franklin addressed the attendees, sharing the City’s progress in public art funding and dedication to its parks. Event speaker and attendee Gudmund Vigtel, former director of the High Museum of Art shared his recollection of brokering a deal in 1975 that brought the artist and the Playscapes to Atlanta over three decades ago.

Playscapes is the only play environment of its kind by Noguchi in the continental United States. It is a unique historical site because it functions as a play environment that has serviced generations of Atlanta’s families and also qualifies as high art at its best. The Playscapes design was far ahead of its time and still reads as contemporary and cutting edge today although the first concept drawings date to 1933.