Shingu: Message from Nature

Susumu Shingu's graceful wind and water-powered kinetic sculptures represent the perfect harmony between high technology and nature.

Although originally trained as a painter, Shingu became interested in sculpture when he saw one of his shaped canvases turning softly in the wind. The work that followed relied on natural forces to make it move or make sound, and he began using more sophisticated materials for outdoor works. By the time of Expo '70 in Osaka, Shingu had been commissioned to create a piece for the plaza. It contained many of the elements he would use later: parts of it were moved by both wind and water, in some ways harnessing their power but also buffeted by it. His work walks the fine line between complementing nature and being an integral part of it. The pieces, though large, colorful, and usually made of modern materials, adopt nature's rhythms in their movement.

Shingu's sculpture is found around the world, from Japan to France, Italy, and the United States. In addition to creating sculptures, he has written and illustrated several children's books and designed several theater pieces that integrate his sculptures and installations with dramatic stories. All of these endeavors are collected here ― along with the artist's comments on many of the sculptures, essays by Pierre Restany and Renzo Piano, and an interview with Joseph Giovannini ― in a monograph that provides a complete portrait of Shingu's diverse career.

Susumu Shingu, an internationally known sculptor and architect, creates works that move with the natural energy of wind and water. His other picture books include Strawberries, Spider, Little Birds and Wandering Whale Sharks.

Renzo Piano is a world-renowned architect, recipient of the RIBA Gold Medal, the AIA Gold Medal,and many other prestigious awards. The non-profit Renzo Piano Foundation and his practice, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, are based in Genoa, Italy.

Pierre Restany, was an internationally known French art critic and cultural philosopher. Restany was born in Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda, Pyrénées-Orientales, and spent his childhood in Casablanca.

Joseph Giovannini heads Giovannini Associates, a design firm based in New York and Los Angeles.

 He holds a Masters in Architecture from Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He has taught advanced and graduate studios at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Architecture, UCLAs Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, the University of Southern Californias School of Architecture, and at the University of Innsbruck.

His projects have ranged from the adaptive reuse of a large trucking facility into lofts to house additions and apartment interiors. 

A graduate of Yale University, where he did his B.A. in English, he also holds a Master of Arts degree in French Language and Literature from La Sorbonne, Paris, Middlebury College Program. 

Besides heading his design practice, Mr. Giovannini has written on architecture and design for three decades for such publications as the New York Times, Architectural Record, Art in America, Art Forum and Architecture Magazine. He has also served as the architecture critic for New York Magazine and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. 

Published design projects have appeared in Architectural Digest, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The New York Times, A + U, Domus, House and Garden, GA Houses, Architekur und Wohnen, Sites, and Interior Design. 

He lives in New York with his wife, Christine Pittel, and daughter Isabella.