Architect · Japan · 1937-2024
Yoshio Taniguchi Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Japanese architect (1937-2024) of serene, exact museums, from the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures in Tokyo to the 2004 expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Photo: Cabinet Secretariat of Japan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Yoshio Taniguchi (1937-2024) was a Japanese architect known for museums of great precision and calm, built with stone, glass and still water. The son of the architect Yoshirō Taniguchi, he trained with Kenzo Tange before opening his own office, and his works include the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum, the D. T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa and the 2004 rebuilding and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Tokyo, Keio and Harvard
Taniguchi was born in Tokyo in 1937. He first studied mechanical engineering at Keio University, graduating in 1960, and then architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he received his master’s degree in 1964. Back in Japan he worked for ten years in the office of Kenzo Tange.
Museums in Japan
He opened his own practice in 1975. Early works include the Shiseido Art House in Kakegawa (1978) and the Ken Domon Museum of Photography in Sakata (1983), followed by the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures in Ueno Park (1999), a glass and stone box behind a shallow pool.
The Museum of Modern Art
In 1997 Taniguchi won the competition to rebuild and expand MoMA in New York, telling the trustees that if they raised enough money he would make the architecture disappear. The new museum, opened in 2004, doubled the gallery space around a tall atrium and restored the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden.
Late work and legacy
Later buildings include the D. T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa (2011), the Heisei Chishinkan wing of the Kyoto National Museum (2014) and the Yoshiro and Yoshio Taniguchi Museum of Architecture in Kanazawa (2019), built on the site of his father’s family home. He received the Praemium Imperiale in 2005 and died in December 2024 at the age of 87.
Yoshio Taniguchi: Nine Museums
Published by MoMA for the opening of his expansion, it presents nine of Taniguchi’s museums with plans and photographs and explains his design for New York.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1937Born on 17 October in Tokyo.
- 1964Graduates from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and joins Kenzo Tange.
- 1975Opens his own office in Tokyo.
- 1978Shiseido Art House is completed.
- 1999Gallery of Horyuji Treasures opens in Tokyo.
- 2004The expanded Museum of Modern Art reopens in New York.
- 2005Receives the Praemium Imperiale.
- 2019Yoshiro and Yoshio Taniguchi Museum of Architecture opens in Kanazawa.
- 2024Dies in December at the age of 87.
Best Books on Yoshio Taniguchi
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yoshio Taniguchi known for?
Yoshio Taniguchi is known for his museums, especially the 2004 expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum.
Who designed the MoMA expansion in 2004?
The rebuilding and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art, completed in 2004, was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi after he won a competition in 1997.
Was Yoshio Taniguchi related to Yoshirō Taniguchi?
Yes. He was the son of the architect Yoshirō Taniguchi, and the museum in Kanazawa that bears both their names stands on the family’s former home.
What is the best book on Yoshio Taniguchi?
Yoshio Taniguchi: Nine Museums by Terence Riley (MoMA, 2004) presents his museums in Japan and the design for MoMA.
When did Yoshio Taniguchi die?
He died in December 2024 at the age of 87.
