Nakagin Capsule Tower

The Nakagin Capsule Tower (中銀カプセルタワー, Nakagin Kapuseru Tawā) is a building designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa. It has apartments and offices in it. The tower is in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan. Nakagin Capsule Tower is an example of the Metabolism style of architecture. It was the first modular capsule building. Design and construction The building is actually two towers. One is eleven and the other is thirteen floors. These towers are the utility cores. They have the elevators, stairs, electric, and water services in them. They also support the whole building. 140 capsules are attached to the two cores. Each capsule unit is one apartment or office. They are 2.3 m (7.5 ft) × 3.8 m (12 ft) × 2.1 m (6.9 ft) and have one round window. Just four bolts connect each unit to a tower. The units are made from lightweight steel. They were built in Shiga Prefecture and brought to Tokyo on trucks. The capsules are not connected to each other, so any capsule can be removed or replaced without moving the others. The towers are the permanent part of the building and the capsules were temporary. Kurokawa planned for new units to be built to replace old ones. As building technology improved, better units could be added. Also, units could be changed as people moved in or out. Capsules could even be moved from one building to another. This part of the plan never happened. No new capsules were ever built. Residents plan to tear down the building. They say there are problems with asbestos and that the building is too old and has not been repaired well. Kurokawa and other architects want to keep the building as an historic example. References