Tatsuyuki Maeda, a member of the Nakagin Capsule Tower Building Conservation and Regeneration Project, hopes the building will be spared both for its place in architectural history and because of its popularity with tourists. If he had his way, it would not only be preserved but improved, restored to its original state. — CityLab
Reports about the fate of the Kisho Kurokawa-designed Nakagin Capsule Tower — and likely most popular example of the Japanese Metabolist Architecture movement — have been from swaying from planned demolition to possible protection in recent years.
Marie Doezema's CityLab piece tries to find out if the iconic, but troubled, 1970s structure will still be around when the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics kick off next summer.
I’m very serious when I say that it should be saved and restored. It’s a very famous building.
But..,.
I'd say it's a lot better as an idea than it is as an actual building.
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It would be a massive shame to lose this building. The movement is fascinating, and this building is one of the few to come to fruition.
It's also a shame the building has been abused as it has.
I had one of my students write a letter proposing building's owner to ship it here to Los Angeles and reinstall it along the river's edge in Vernon a few years ago. Needless to say they never answered to her.
Probably, all it needs is a good high pressure water cleaning and renewing the surface materials inside.
When I visited a number of years ago many of the capsules seemed to be packed with junk.
i read about issues with asbestos...
took this photo last time i visited the site a few years ago. amazing structure but pretty run down and grimy.
It's an important historical structure. They have to save it, if only as a reminder of how naive some of this late modern utopian architecture was. I realize that most people don't want to live in a filing cabinet, but surely there's enough demand to allow it to become a chic hipster art tourism destination.
Had to grind that axe, didn't you?
What axe is it that you think I’m grinding, Pete?
Could have simply said it was an important historical building, which it is. Instead you felt like grandstanding.
No. I’m offering my opinion.
Yeah, on second read that's true. Sorry I unloaded on you.
Thanks, Pete. :)
And, yeah, seriously, I'd renovate it into a cool hipster hotel. Maybe with staff dressed like the flight attendants on the TWA spaceplane from 2001. It could attract international design tourists. As an architect visiting Tokyo, I'd want to stay there. For a night or two, anyway.
I recall there being an airbnb or something in the tower, but also read stories of the management being very unfriendly to non-resident visitors. It was locked up tight when I visited.
I’m very serious when I say that it should be saved and restored. It’s a very famous building.
But..,.
it’s one of the coolest buildings.
This:
The Capsule Tower is a top 5 building for me, but preservation makes no sense. Those capsules were never intended to be permanent, and were constructed with that in mind. While I'd love to see it preserved, it could only be done through regeneration. They'd have to replace all the capsules, and figure out a better way to change them out while they're at it...
I'd say it's a lot better as an idea than it is as an actual building.
very influential idea, metabolism was. you see it all over current trends
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