Yoshio Taniguchi
Encyclopedia
Yoshio Taniguchi is a Japanese
architect best known for his redesign of the Museum of Modern Art
in New York
which was reopened November 20, 2004.
, graduating in 1960, and studied architecture at Harvard University
's Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1964. He worked briefly for architect Walter Gropius
, who became an important influence.
From 1964 to 1972, Taniguchi worked for the studio of architect Kenzo Tange
, who was perhaps the most important Japanese modernist architect, at Tokyo University. While in the Tange office, Taniguchi also worked on projects in Skopje, Yugoslavia and San Francisco, California (Yerba Buena), living on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley while involved in the latter project. Important later collaborators include Isamu Noguchi
, American landscape architect Peter Walker
, and artist Genichiro Inokuma. Taniguchi is best known for designing a number of Japanese museums, including the Nagano Prefectural Museum, the Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
, and the Gallery of the Hōryū-ji
Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum
.
Taniguchi won a competition in 1997 to redesign the Museum of Modern Art, beating out ten other internationally renowned architects, including Rem Koolhaas
, Bernard Tschumi
, and Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
. The MoMA commission was Taniguchi's first work outside Japan.
Taniguchi has since won a commission to design the Asia House for the Texas branch of the Asia Society. This $40 million project will be located in Houston's museum district and will be Taniguchi's first free-standing new building in the United States.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
architect best known for his redesign of the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
which was reopened November 20, 2004.
Biography
Taniguchi is the son of architect Yoshirō Taniguchi (1904-1979). He studied engineering at Keio UniversityKeio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
, graduating in 1960, and studied architecture at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1964. He worked briefly for architect Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, who became an important influence.
From 1964 to 1972, Taniguchi worked for the studio of architect Kenzo Tange
Kenzo Tange
was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...
, who was perhaps the most important Japanese modernist architect, at Tokyo University. While in the Tange office, Taniguchi also worked on projects in Skopje, Yugoslavia and San Francisco, California (Yerba Buena), living on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley while involved in the latter project. Important later collaborators include Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi
was a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...
, American landscape architect Peter Walker
Peter Walker (architect)
Peter Walker is a landscape architect in the United States.-Biography and Influences:Peter Walker grew up in California and attended the University of California, Berkeley. Walker initially started out in Journalism but quickly changed his field...
, and artist Genichiro Inokuma. Taniguchi is best known for designing a number of Japanese museums, including the Nagano Prefectural Museum, the Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art is an art museum located in the city of Toyota, Aichi in central Japan.- History :The museum features works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Edvard Munch, and others...
, and the Gallery of the Hōryū-ji
Hōryū-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as seminary and monastery both....
Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum
Tokyo National Museum
Established 1872, the , or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure...
.
Taniguchi won a competition in 1997 to redesign the Museum of Modern Art, beating out ten other internationally renowned architects, including Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
, Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Born of French and Swiss parentage, he works and lives in New York and Paris. He studied in Paris and at ETH in Zurich, where he received his degree in architecture in 1969...
, and Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Architekten, BSA/SIA/ETH is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog , and Pierre de Meuron , closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of...
. The MoMA commission was Taniguchi's first work outside Japan.
Taniguchi has since won a commission to design the Asia House for the Texas branch of the Asia Society. This $40 million project will be located in Houston's museum district and will be Taniguchi's first free-standing new building in the United States.
Further reading
- Dana Buntrock. "Yoshio Taniguchi: master of minimalism." Architecture, October 1996.