The Nakagin capsule tower

The Nakagin Capsule tower is the first capsule building in the world. Its concept rassembles the theories of the metabolist movement (japan, 1960s). Dwellings are capsules for one person,which are plugged in to a central core. Each capsule has built-in furniture and provide its inhabitant with the latest technology. In the architect's idea, capsules were to be replaced every 10 years, in order to keep the building up to date and performant. Capsules would eventually be transferable from one capsule tower to another, anywhere in the world. Capsules were actually never replaced, and the building was set for destruction in 2007.

1. Body

The capsules are designed to serve as dwellings for one person. Their dimensions are minimal (2.5m x 4 m x 2.5 m.), and are therefore reminiscent of the existenzminimum (Le Corbusier) housing projects. Each capsule has the same built in furniture: a bed, a circular window, a bathroom, and a build in wall with facilities such as electronic devices, desk, and storage space.

2. Building

This building was the world’s first capsule architecture built for actual use.
The building is conceived as the product of the addition of 140 capsules around two circulation cores. One core is 11 storey tall, the other has 13 storeys. The first two floors are office space. On the other floors, the prefabricated units are attached to the core with 4 high-tension bolts which make them detachable and replaceable. Capsules can eventually be combined and create family apartments.

3. City

The context of the building is marked by a strong presence of infrastructures (such as an highway), a very high building density, and some tiny chinks between the buildings (as a result of a Japanese law). Kurokawa’s building only uses 60 % of the parcel land, gives public space on the ground floor, and the gap between the capsules and the surrounding buildings is several meters wide.

4. Environment

In this very dense environment, the Nakagin capsule tower could have been a very green architecture. Indeed, some capsules spaces could have been used for vegetal areas, and new capsules replacing the old ones should have brought new technologies, such as sustainable development. But it didn’t happen. All the capsules have been used for living space, and the renewal never happened.

5. Technology

The circulation core are built around a concrete wall. The interior of this wall is the lift case, the exterior is the staircase and the access to the
capsules. The peripheral wall of the staircase is a steel structure, to which the capsules are plugged in. The form of the capsule is simple and the major structure is a lightweight steel-truss box. The capsules were fabricated at the factory and fitted out including utilities ( phone, TV, radio...)

6. Implementation

The tower was first designed to be used as a hotel. Then, with the rise of real estate prices in Tokyo, people bought the capsules and now the managing is made by the private owners. In 2007, the owners decided to destroy the building and to build at his place a 14 storey tall tower, which would increase the floor area by 60%. Some groups of architects tried in vain to avoid the demolition of the building by proposing the architecture to the UNESCO.

Neighbors

This manifesto of the metabolism is the expression of the monad-nomad way of life. People have their own universe that fits in a room and that can be transported like a container, from one mega structure to the other. High tech and hygiene are a big part of the construction. Each capsule is fully equiped with the most up to date technology, and with a very minimal yet complete bathroom. Privacy and security are very controlled as well, inhabitants live in their own bubbles, and they feel part of a very strong and protective structure.

Neighboring

Neighboring is a weakness of this project. The lack of collective space stops the residents of creating social relations between them. The only non private spaces are vertical circulations that lead directly to the
capsules.

Neighborhood

We could see in old pictures that when the building was built, the area had a lower density. Kurokawa tried to build a flexible building that would renew itself during the years. The area then became more densified and nobody would change the capsules, and now the building is obsolete, causing his destruction.