The Last Days of Tokyo’s Nakagin Capsule Tower

A fantastic article from the last time this topic came up: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;failedarchitecture.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;06&#x2F;a-year-in-the-metabolist-future-of-1972&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;failedarchitecture.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;06&#x2F;a-year-in-the-metabol...</a> It goes over the history of the tower, the experience of the author living there, and has better shots of the interiors featuring a variety of tenants.

Travelling to the 70s must feel like going to the future: these futuristic capsule buildings existed, supersonic air travel was commonplace, and there were humans travelling to the moon. The epitome of modernity these days is how fast your car videos can load.

I published a photobook &#x27;Danchi Dreams&#x27; in 2018 that captured the massive Japanese apartment blocks from the same era as Nakagin. The apartment buildings, known as &#x27;danchi&#x27;, were constructed from the 1960s - 1980s to replace burnt-out cities and house a booming population. Though they might not be quite as spectacular as what the Metabolists dreamed up I think they shared a forward-looking vision for what the modern world could be. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;danchi-dreams.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;danchi-dreams.com&#x2F;</a>

It reminds me of Canada&#x27;s Habitat 67, which is also made up of prefabricated concrete rooms and sealed bathroom units. Designed as cheap housing for the future, it is now luxery housing but residents have to put up with similar problems such as a pipe burst in one apartment causes major problems.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Habitat_67" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Habitat_67</a>

Metabolism (the architectural movement that underpinned the Capsule Tower) fascinates me because of its grand scope, one that sought to build an entire society that would suit the needs of the modern person. A building like the Capsule Tower was only a small part of a totalising vision which included ideas for reimagining the Tokyo Bay with vast arcologies.<p>For those interested in Metabolism a fascinating book on the subject is Rem Koolhaas’ “Project Japan - Metabolism Talks” from Taschen. I’ve only just begun to read it and the level of detail is illuminating.

I always wanted to stay in the airbnb from that building to actually feel what it would be like to live there. What stopped me though is the fact that there&#x27;s asbestos and that the conditions of the capsule were bad enough that I could end up inhaling some asbestos. How much of a concern is that really? You hear such horror stories about Asbestos but given how widely used it was and how little care was taken to demolish certain buildings in countries like China, I would expect a lot more people affect with Mesothelioma if all it took were a few fibers finding their way into people&#x27;s lungs?<p>So for anyone with the medical knowledge, was that a valid concern of mine or just a paranoia that prevented me from experiencing a building I&#x27;ve always been fascinated with before its disappearance?

I think that &quot;It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the metabolists failed because the buildings they produced weren’t metabolic enough to cope with the ever-changing needs of the city’s inhabitants. Surely, preservation of their work as some kind of cultural relic would be the last thing that the young radicals of the late ’60s and early ’70s would have wanted.&quot; is the key quote. I&#x27;m sad to see an interesting building go, but it seems like a failed experiment, rather than a monument that should be preserved.

I hope they at least save a bunch of the capsules and send them to museums around the world.<p>Hell, maybe someone could buy all of them as a marketing gimmick like the London Bridge.

To me, this building is made famous by Transport Tycoon, and I am so sad to see the end.

This reminds me of Jacques Tati&#x27;s wonderful film, <i>Mon Oncle</i> (1958). There&#x27;s a residential house with many similarities to the Nakagin Capsule Tower, and it has so much personality that it&#x27;s almost a character in itself. Tati gets as much comedy out of its silly, &quot;forward-looking&quot; design as he can, and he contrasts it excellently with an equally ridiculous old house in the centre of the village.

Damn. I love that building. One of these days I need to cycle there on an early morning to take some more pictures before it ultimately disappears :-&#x2F;

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Metabolism_(architecture)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Metabolism_(architecture)</a>

Why “bizzare”? And what is “Logan’s Run”? That building is absolutely breathtaking! It’s maybe my favorite structure on the planet. And it would be so cool if it got rebuilt (without the asbestos)!<p>By the way, I really enjoyed this documentary: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;vimeo.com&#x2F;ondemand&#x2F;nakagincapsuletower" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;vimeo.com&#x2F;ondemand&#x2F;nakagincapsuletower</a>

What a coincidence. Just read yesterday about it in the Monocle book of Japan and that it will be either teared down or preserved depending on the votes among the owners.

When you design for architectural and humanist ideals only, but don&#x27;t design for maintenance or renovation, then any claims of renovation, renewal, or timelessness are moot, wishful, unattained aspirations.<p>Practicality first, then form, because a building in a high-value area has to be fundamentally useful or it becomes a spectacle, art, and&#x2F;or blight.