2005 Winter - Yoshio Taniguchi - Ken Domon Museum of Photograpy
Yoshio Taniguchi
Behind New York's New MoMA
photography by Timothy Hursley, Neil Selkirk / portrait by Tadayuki Naito
On November 15 the New York Times hailed Yoshio Taniguchi's grand new home for Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art as "one of the most exquisite works of architecture to rise in this city in at least a generation." The critic described it as "a serene composition that weaves art, architecture and the city into a transcendent aesthetic experience."
MoMA opened its doors in 1929 as the world's first museum dedicated to modern art. Considered "un-lifelike," new art had yet to receive wide appreciation, but the determination of three women—Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan—to provide a platform for "living" art fueled the museum's founding. Witness to the debate was then-teenaged David Rockefeller. Now, 75 years later, the vision of that core group of contemporary art patrons will be transmitted to yet another generation in a new, dynamic showcase called the David and Peggy Rockefeller Building.
We interviewed architect Taniguchi about lasting legacies and new directions.
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Completely revitalized and nearly doubled in size, the Museum of Modern Art re-opened on November 20. Visitors enter Taniguchi's brilliant work through exteriors of glass, granite, and aluminum. The expanded lobby now spans a city block. Above it, the second floor rises in a soaring atrium, where the architect and Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk (1963-69) stand in our top photo. Glass walls enclose galleries on the fourth (of six) floors, setting off Donald Judd's colorful Untitled (1989). From one of the bridges crossing the atrium (right), visitors can look down on Monet's Water Lilies (c. 1920) on the far wall and the lobby below it. |
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Yoshio Taniguchi
Architect
Born in 1937 in Tokyo, Taniguchi graduated from Keio University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then earned a master's degree in architecture from Harvard University. After working in the office of Kenzo Tange he established his own practice. Over the past 20 years he has designed museums, libraries, schools, a hotel, an aquarium, teahouses, and gardens. He has taught at Harvard, UCLA, and the University of Tokyo. His goal for MoMA was "to create an ideal environment for art and people through the imaginative and disciplined use of light, materials, and space." |
Articles from the 2005 WINTER issue:
Kateigaho International Edition Issues:
2005 SUMMER - 2005 SPRING - 2005 WINTER
2004 AUTUMN - 2004 SUMMER - 2004 SPRING - 2004 WINTER
2003 AUTUMN - INAUGURAL ISSUE
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