The Nakagin Capsule Tower was a mixed residential and office building in the Ginza district of Tokyo, designed by Kisho Kurokawa and completed in 1972 as a built example of the Japanese Metabolism movement. The building consisted of 140 prefabricated steel capsules, each about 2.5 by 2.5 by 4 meters with a single circular window, bolted onto two reinforced concrete cores and intended to be unbolted and replaced individually as they aged, a demonstration of Metabolism's idea of architecture as a living, renewable organism. In practice the capsules were never replaced, and the building deteriorated over five decades without the maintenance its design assumed. It was demolished in 2022, though 23 of its capsules were removed intact and distributed to museums including MoMA in New York and SFMOMA.
Facts
Building TypeResidential and Office Tower 1 Completed Year Completed Year Height (m)The taller of the two towers (13 storeys) reached 53.5 m above ground; the shorter (11 storeys) reached 47.4 m. Building Type
Building Type (category) Building Type (category) Classification
Standing Status Connections
Has Building Type
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
In Style
Source Wikipedia: Nakagin Capsule Tower
Uses Element
Source Wikipedia: Nakagin Capsule Tower
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Japan, located there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nakagin Capsule Tower
Wikipedialead paragraph, first sentence
was a mixed-use residential and office tower in the upscale Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan
lead paragraph, second sentence
Completed in two years (1970-1972), the building was a rare remaining example of Japanese Metabolism
Design section, height footnote
Maximum height above ground level was 53.5 and 47.4 m (176 and 156 ft) for the 13- and 11-storey towers, respectively.
lead paragraph, first sentence, location clause
in the upscale Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan
standing status determination, wikipedia summary
The building was demolished in 2022, although 23 component units were earmarked for preservation and later repurposed elsewhere.
- In Style: Metabolism, infobox architectural_style field: Metabolism
Uses Element: Steel, Wikipedia article
The cores were rigid-frame, consisting of a steel frame and reinforced concrete.
View the Source 2. Wikidata: Nakagin Capsule Tower
- Wikidata Q1633586, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q1633586, P571 claim (w-bbfill-artsarchag-0926)
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