Taniguchi is the son of architect Yoshirō Taniguchi (1904–1979). He studied engineering at Keio University, graduating in 1960, and studied architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1964. He worked briefly for architect Walter Gropius, who became an important influence. From 1964 to 1972, Taniguchi worked for the studio of architect Kenzo Tange, who was perhaps the most important Japanese modernist architect, at Tokyo University.

Taniguchi is best known for designing a number of Japanese museums, including the Nagano Prefectural Museum, the Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, the D.T. Suzuki Museum (鈴木大拙館, Suzuki Daisetsu Kan) in Kanazawa, and the Gallery of the Hōryū-ji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum.

Taniguchi won a competition in 1997 to redesign the Museum of Modern Art, beating out nine other internationally renowned architects, including Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, and Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The MoMA commission was Taniguchi's first work outside Japan. (from wiki)