On May 18, 2023, SFMOMA became the first museum to acquire a Capsule from the Nakagin Capsule Tower, built in Tokyo, Japan, in 1972.
One of architect Kisho Kurokawa’s earliest projects, the Nakagin Capsule Tower was an example of Metabolist architecture, a significant architecture movement in post-war Japan. They proposed an architecture that integrated ideas of responsiveness, adaptability and impermanence. Metabolist architecture is based on the Japanese concept “shinchintaisha,” a biological term for cell adaptation to sustain life, which can be translated in English as metabolism. In Japanese, the term is also imbued with a Buddhist spiritual idea of renewal and regeneration.
Kisho Kurokawa, Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972), 2022; photo: Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project.
The 13-floor Nakagin Capsule Tower featured two central towers containing infrastructure for 140 small, prefabricated living units attached to the exterior of the towers. The idea was that individual units could be replaced or even moved to different locations. Originally billed in the real estate documents as “Business Capsules” for businessmen to have a private space during the week, the prefabricated capsules featured a single circular window, a full bathroom, a built-in bed and a fold-down desk. The owner would also select optional interior features and accessories from a menu of options, which included the latest Japanese electronics of the day, such as a television and a reel-to-reel tape player.
Noritaka Minami, A504, 2012, archival pigment print.
The capsules were initially popular; however, as the surrounding neighborhood developed, the Nakagin real estate company invested little in the Capsule Tower's maintenance. Nakagin Capsule Tower remained as it was built until October 5, 2022, when the central towers and most of the capsules were demolished. Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project, led by Tatsuyuki Maeda, managed to save 23 capsules.
Kisho Kurokawa, Restored Capsule A1302 (1972), 2023; photo: Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project.
Capsule A1302, acquired by SFMOMA, was the capsule owned by Kisho Kurokawa. It had a prime location on the tower’s highest floor and was featured in several movies. Capsule A1302 has been carefully restored in close conversation with Kurokawa’s office, curators and historians; it contains original features and electronics available to buyers who customized their units in 1972. Given the small dimensions of 8.2 ft. width x 13.1 ft. length x 8.2 ft. height, the Capsule offers an extraordinary opportunity to acquire built architecture and to realize the architect’s wish that the Capsules not remain fixed, but rather move to other locations.
The capsule joins the museum’s deep holdings in Japanese architecture, design and photography. In addition to SFMOMA’s acquisition of Capsule A1302, the museum has collected nine photographs by Noritaka Minami from his series 1972, documenting the unique interiors of the Nakagin Capsule Tower between 2010-2022.
Noritaka Minami, A1203, 2012, archival pigment print.
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About the Architect Kisho Kurokawa
In 1960, Kisho Kurokawa was the youngest of seven cofounders of the Architectural Metabolist movement, and by 1962, he opened Kisho Kurokawa architect & associates, an architecture firm still active in 2023, although Kurokawa passed away in 2007 at the age of 73. The Tokyo-based Metabolist architects put forward a distinctly Japanese architectural approach that recognized the impermanence of buildings, technology and people, and the longevity of concepts, traditions and nature. The Nakagin Capsule Tower is one of a small number of built works during the Metabolist period. Fumihiko Maki, one of the original Metabolist architects, later designed the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which opened in 1993, and is located across the street from SFMOMA.
Kurokawa went on to design several buildings including the City Art Museum (Nagoya, 1987); the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Sepang, Malaysia, 1998); the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, 1999); and the National Art Center (Tokyo, 2006). Kurokawa wrote The Philosophy of Symbiosis, which was translated into several languages. He was also a beloved television personality who took to the media very naturally, and even ran for Governor of Tokyo in 2007, the year he passed away unexpectedly.
Courtesy of © SFMOMA
Cover image: Noritaka Minami, Facade, 2011, archival pigment print
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