- Lecturer: Shoji Sadao, Former Executive Director, Isamu Noguchi Foundation
- Interlocutor: Christopher Blasdel, Artistic Director, International House of Japan
- Date: Friday, Jun. 14, 2013, 7:00 pm-
- Venue: Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall, International House of Japan (*please note that the venue has changed)
- Language: English (without Japanese interpretation)
- Admission: Free (reservations required)
Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi were two of the most creative individuals of the twentieth century. Their works inspired and influenced a generation of architects and artists. Fuller, the philosopher-architect, and Noguchi, the sculptor-designer, were independent thinkers who did not join in any group and movement. Their shared independence and respect for the other’s critical thinking as outsiders nurtured their intimacy, and both of them sought the truth through art and science. Introducing their deep friendship, which has been largely unknown, in this program, Mr. Sadao will discuss the importance of their work as an exemplar of cross-border collaboration going beyond the two worlds of art and science into a single vision.
Shoji Sadao
Shoji Sadao was born in 1927 in the United States. Studied architecture at Cornell University. He began working with Buckminster Fuller in 1954 and formed Fuller and Sadao, Inc. in 1964. Mr. Sadao met Fuller while studying architecture at Cornell University, and it was Fuller who introduced him to Noguchi. Mr. Sadao began working with Noguchi on gardens and landscape projects in the 1960s and assisted in setting up the Isamu Noguchi Foundation in 1971, for which he served as Executive Director (1991-2003). His publications include Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi: Best of Friends (5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2011).