Despite a yearslong battle for its preservation, the Nakagin Capsule Tower designed by Kisho Kurokawa was dismantled in 2022. However, in a poetic exemplification of the tenets of the metabolism movement that it once represented, the beloved building continues its existence, albeit broken down in parts, akin energy from food metabolized in a body.
The Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project saved 23 of Nakagin’s capsules and has been restoring a number of them under the supervision of Kisho Kurokawa Architects and Associates. The refurbished capsules started resurfacing in public as early as 2023, with a unit turned into a van by the Yodogawa Steel Works company. More units were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art Saitama, the Museum of Modern Art in Wakayama, M+ in Hong Kong, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.
From July 10, 2025, through July 12, 2026, MoMA is displaying the A1305 capsule in its street-level galleries in Manhattan as part of a larger exhibition titled “The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower,” showcasing the 50-year history of the building through nearly 45 pieces of contextual material. “These materials include the project’s only surviving model from 1970–72; original drawings, photographs and promotional ephemera; an archival film and audio recordings; interviews with former tenants; and an interactive virtual tour of the entire building,” states MoMA’s press release.
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