The Fate of The Nakagin Capsule Tower

National Geographic takes a look at the Nakagin Capsule Tower:

  Quote

When Kurokawa passed away in 2007, residents tired of the tower’s crumbling concrete and leaking pipes voted to tear down his masterpiece and replace it with a conventional apartment building, a plan which was halted by the 2008 stock market crash.

 

Photographer Noritaka Minami began chronicling the life and fate of the Nakagin Tower in 2010. In the next seven years, he returned to the building nearly 10 times. “Each time I visit the building, I learn something both about the architecture and the residents,” he says.

 

Some capsule owners have moved out or converted their rooms into offices, while others have chosen to renovate and remain in the one-of-a-kind dwelling.

 

Minami avoided photographing the tenants directly, preferring to have their presence communicated through their objects. “[The room] functions as a container of people's identity, personal interest, hobbies and taste.”

 

With the Summer Olympics coming to Tokyo in 2020, development has been reignited development across the city as well as the debate about the historic tower’s future.

 

Nice, I love the design of that place but I'd probably hate living in it. I really hope they fix the place rather then tear it down though, a shame to see it lost.

Reminds me of my current room...

I saw the picture and remembered I need to hang my washing up

I'd totally live in one of those tbh

^^ that one looks huge compared to the pics I saw. Doesn't look too bad... I'd have a hard time living out of something the size of a laundry room though. Not good for depression etc. 

Some very IDM architecture there. I was on holiday in Rotterdam a month or so ago and there are some 'cube houses' there that are similar in spirit:

Like so much postwar architecture though, much better in principle/on paper than they actually would be to live in.

PS. thread title would make a wicked album title

didnt LA put something in place to preserve the Watts Towers?

small steps from eyesore to public heritage site

I think Jochem Paap lives/lived in one of those yellow box houses.

I've a funny feeling there's no actual residents living in them now, not 100% on that though. If he's still there he may have had the treat of seeing me wander around his wee courtyard, mildly hungover on a cloudy September day.

  On 10/24/2017 at 10:57 PM, Leon Sumbitches said:

Some very IDM architecture there. I was on holiday in Rotterdam a month or so ago and there are some 'cube houses' there that are similar in spirit:

 

 

 

Like so much postwar architecture though, much better in principle/on paper than they actually would be to live in.

 

PS. thread title would make a wicked album title

I'm not sure if he still does but Speedy J used to live and have his studio in one of those.

lol totally missed Gocab's post there.