Well known in Japan as a designer of museums, Taniguchi
has completed several new structures in recent years, beginning in 1990 with
the Higashiyama Kaii Gallery, which is adjacent to the Nagano Prefectural
Shinano Art Museum in Nagano City. Intended to display the works of painter
Kaii Higashiyama, the gallery is situated next to a reflecting pool and garden.
The repose of the interior galleries is suitable for the display of
Higashiyama's paintings of nature and can be contemplated while also gazing out
on the mountains of Nagano. Similarly, the artist Genichiro Inokuma donated his
works to the city of Marugame, which commissioned Taniguchi to build a museum
to house this gift.
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Situated across from the city's railway station, the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma
Museum of Contemporary Art, completed in 1991, includes a plaza that connects
the museum with the station. The museum consists of spacious public areas and a
large skylighted temporary exhibition gallery on the top floor, as well as an
auditorium, library, crafts studio, restaurant, and offices.
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In the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, completed in 1995 on the old castle site
of Komoro City (now Toyota City), Taniguchi wanted to express the history and
distinct nature of the site by affording views from the new building to both
the new city and the historic area. Various functions of the museum have been
separated into different levels: the administration and delivery entrances are
on the lowest of three levels, the visitors' entrance is on the middle level,
and a sculpture terrace is at the top. The area around the museum has been
designed as a plaza and park, and there are plans to extend this to create a
cultural and recreational facility for all of Toyota City.
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