The roof garden of the Taniguchi Building at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City was designed to make use of unused roof space. It provides views of the city for both museum visitors and residents of a nearby tower. The garden helps reduce the environmental impact of the building by providing shade and increasing reflectivity, while also serving as an outdoor art gallery.

1. Taniguchi Building (MoMA) / Roof Garden
New York City, New York
Yoshio Taniguchi / Ken Smith
The roof garden of the Taniguchi Building at the Museum of Modern
Art explores the use and efficiency of space usually left undesigned.
The project arose from the development of the museum into a large
multi-building complex. It’s growing impact on the surrounding neigh-
borhood began to have a detrimental effect on local residents. Part of
its construction required altering a near-by residential tower. In order
to apease its residents, the museum agreed to create a “decorative
rooftop”.
What was contructed was a highly visible rooftop and sculpture gar-
den. This garden allowed museum visitors and tower residents a view
rarely seen in a major city.
The addition of the garden has reduced the enviromental impact cre-
ated by the museum. The trees provide shading of the building en-
velope and therefore reduce heating bills. The high reflectance of the
paving materials also have an impact on its performance as well.
This element of construction can be well utilized on the flat-iron proj-
ect. The sculpture garden provides the artist with an ability to show
his or her work in a “natural” environment. It also provides artists with
a “permanent” gallery that is not occupied by other artists’ working
area.
The roof garden can serve two major purposes: an art gallery and
sustainability. If incorporated into the scope of the project, the garden
will be a major hit with the tenants and local residents.
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