Nakagin Capsule Tower

After the Second World War 98% of buildings and houses in Tokyo had been destroyed. During the reconstruction of the country some Japanese architects thought that the future of architecture should be the most “modular” possible; they were part of the metabolic movement. These architects, worried about the future of our society, thought that living standards would be better if architecture structures were flexible and extensible, they would be better if they grew as if they were a living organism composed by modules. One of the most important metabolist architects of the post-war era was Kisho Kurokawa. He designed the first modular building: the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Shinbashi, Tokyo.

The building consists of two big columns that form the core. 140 prefabricated capsules were added to this core, each of them attached to one of the two columns with four big screws. Capsules can be replaced by new ones as time passes by and they are built in a factory. The current capsules have a television, a bathroom, a mini-kitchen, a bed, two built-in closets and even a calculator.

One of the first designs of the currently installed capsules.

After almost 40 years the Nakagin Capsule Tower is still in place but the capsule replacement system is not as simple as it was thought at the beginning and the building is getting old. The inhabitants of the tower have decided to demolish it to build a traditional office tower, something the international community of architects opposes. Many of them consider it an exponent of high historical value of how our cities could be nowadays but never happened. It is a reminder of the paths that were not taken, that there was a possibility of other worlds in where we could live in.

Photo by Tomio Ohashi.

Photo by Tomio Ohashi.

Photo by Tomio Ohashi.

Photo by Tomio Ohashi.

Video that shows capsules interior with explanations by architect Kisho Kurokawa.