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.
"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, Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, told Miranda before adding, "It’s not just the physical form we need to hold on to, it’s the concept."
The museum has not said whether they will exhibit the pod in the immediate term in its new Snøhetta-designed spaces or disclosed the price for acquiring the pod, which cost an estimated 6.5 million Yen (or roughly $50,000 USD) to remove from the structure.
The move puts SFMOMA ahead of other institutions, including the Centre Pompidou, which were rumored to be interested in collecting some of the 140 surviving capsules following news of the tower’s demolition in April of last year.
No Comments
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.