In the last two decades, the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi has designed a wide range of structures. In 1997 he came to international attention when he won an invited competition to design the expansion of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Extensively illustrated with drawings and photographs, this book documents nearly 20 of Taniguchi's buildings and projects, including libraries, schools, a hotel, an aquarium, a tea house and garden, and the Museum of Modern Art expansion. Taniguchi provides commentaries on each one, as well as a brief essay on his development as an architect. Fumihiko Maki, another of Japan's leading architects and a Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, provides additional insights into Taniguchi's work.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Having one's work included among the many items in the design collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art is a major honor for any product designer or manufacturer. For architects, the Modern club is very exclusive: only five of them have ever designed buildings for MoMA. Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi is the latest, and the first non-American. He bested nine carefully picked peers in a design competition in 1998, and his project is slated for completion in 2004.
Taniguchi is not yet well known in the U.S., and this handsome, large-format book is one of the first English-language explorations of his career. It presents 18 buildings and projects through short introductions, generous color photos, and rather small line drawings. The son of an architect, Taniguchi studied mechanical engineering in Tokyo and architecture at Harvard. His works typically exhibit directness, clarity, and fine-honed sparseness. At their best--as in the brilliantly planned and boldly structured Kanazawa Library, or the magically transparent Kasai Rinkai Park visitors center--their virtues are obvious, but other projects may need a visit to reveal their essence fully. Indeed, parts of some of the projects appear rather ordinary, and one, the IBM Makuhari Technical Center, seems to flirt with banality.
There is always an inherent difficulty in compressing the large-scale, space-time experience of architecture into book form. This volume does struggle with this problem, but the elegant design mirrors Taniguchi's ordered and understated aesthetic. An introduction by architect Fumihiko Maki and an autobiographical essay by Taniguchi enhance the reader's understanding of this subtle and meticulous designer. --John Pastier
Review
"elegant volume...The excellent photography...and spacious layout...evoke the luminous physicality and calm aura of Taniguchi's buildings." -- New York Times Book Review
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring Modern Design with Understated Text,
This review is from: The Architecture of Yoshio Taniguchi (Hardcover)
Taniguchi's book illustrates the clear visions of a modernists interpertations on each project. Responding to the buildings function, the image of the institution, and the site with refreshing concepts that make the whole much more than the sum of the parts. The book presents coordinated photographs and drawings that do an excellent job of communicating the substance of each project. The text is jargon-free, clearly and concisly explaining the design intent and detail. Taniguchi's modesty is quite refreshing, as is the quality of his work.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular, full of beautiful illustrations, big size, excellent printing,
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This review is from: The Architecture of Yoshio Taniguchi (Hardcover)
A superb introduction by famous Fumihiko Maki counts 10 pages and an author's statement - 4 pages. 17 completed architectural works and 1 project are beautifully illustrated by excellent mostly photos in color, but also B&W plans, sections, 3D linear presentation and photo-realistic renderings in color, axonometric presentation and freehand diagrams in color, and models; 434 illustrations, including 208 plates in full color. Each work is introduced by a description on a half page. Project data chapter lists 2 works per page, each with a small photo and a site plan. This book weighs 4.9 lb, fits like a glove, and is as good as it gets.
1 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy and Bulky,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Architecture of Yoshio Taniguchi (Hardcover)
A very... heavy and bulky book. On contrary to its size and many colourful pictures, Taniguchi's architecture represents the typical modern/minimalist architecture with not much of inspiring insight. It therefore is understanble why there are a lot people wanted to sell it on the web.
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