A Hidden Space-Age Garden in Lower Manhattan

Where T Magazine asked a panel to determine the 25 sculptures that define the modern age, Arlene Shechet was among the artists who decided what to include. One of her favorite pieces—and one that made the final cut—is Isamu Noguchi’s Sunken Garden for Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza (1961–64).

Sixteen feet below the plaza’s main level, Noguchi arranged 27,000 cream-colored granite tiles to encircle seven basalt boulders the had been pulled from the bed of Kyoto’s Uji River. Amid them he placed a fountain that when switched on created a shallow pool. To this day, the garden’s organic elements lend a welcome sense of the terrestrial and offer passers-by a moment of respite.

(opens in a new window) Watch now on nytimes.com.