SFMOMA acquires Nakagin Capsule Tower pod

2023-06-13T19:37:00-04:00

A unique piece of architectural history is headed to America following the purchase of a remaining Nakagin Capsule Tower pod by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

The LA Times’ Carolina A. Miranda was first to report on the museum’s acquisition last week, which she said will join examples from fellow adherent to Metabolist architecture Fumihiko Maki and photographer Noritaka Minami (who documented his life inside the tower from 2010 to 2021) in the museum’s collection.

The A1302 capsule is one of just 23 preserved through the Tatsuyuki Maeda-led Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project and was personally owned by the building's architect Kisho Kurokawa himself, before his death in 2007.

Earlier on Archinect: Nakagin Capsule Tower capsules see new life following building's demolition in 2022

"It’s so rare to collect a 1-to-1 scale piece of architecture. It can fit inside, outside, and that’s phenomenal for us," the museum's architecture curator, Jennife...

Designs for outer space at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

2019-08-01T19:31:00-04:00

Fifty years since the first footsteps on the Moon, the exploration of the cosmos remains irresistible, and the ambition to establish commercial space travel and planetary settlements continues to capture the imagination. Far Out: Suits, Habs, and Labs for Outer Space celebrates the visionary ideas and ingenious solutions from architects, artists, and designers who dared to imagine life far out among the stars.

Entitled Far Out: Suits, Habs, and Labs for Outer Space, SFMOMA's exhibition celebrating the "booming space industry," will be open from July 20, 2019 to January 20, 2020. "Extraterrestrial conditions amplify the challenge to design for space travel, and new research and technologies are making what was once science fiction a reality," the museum writes. The exhibition will explore the work of artists and architects and how their ideas fit into "our cosmic quest."

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SFMOMA acquires Nakagin Capsule Tower pod

Designs for outer space at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art