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The Nakagin Tower was proposing the smallest living unit - the capsule - to be replaced every 20 years. However they were all the same. Their interiors were clearly defined, all furnished the same way. Also the units were too small and not flexible at all.
In the rebrief, the idea of having two different rates of change for two different layers of the building will be kept. In the diagram on the right, you can see the grid structure being stable and the rest changing in time in an abstract way.
It shows the idea of having different sizes of capsules, located on a rigid system which includes circulation and structural elements.
The problem would be still keeping an enclosed space, "the capsule" unit and not letting the city on the vertical to act like the city on the horizontal.
In the re-briefed Nakagin Tower, the boundaries between the "capsules" would fade and rigid space integrated with the main structure would host shared spaces between the units.
In the rebrief, the idea of having two different rates of change for two different layers of the building will be kept. In the diagram on the right, you can see the grid structure being stable and the rest changing in time in an abstract way.
It shows the idea of having different sizes of capsules, located on a rigid system which includes circulation and structural elements.
The problem would be still keeping an enclosed space, "the capsule" unit and not letting the city on the vertical to act like the city on the horizontal.
In the re-briefed Nakagin Tower, the boundaries between the "capsules" would fade and rigid space integrated with the main structure would host shared spaces between the units.
In 1970, according to a chiche, the third most famous man in Japan
(after the emperor and the prime minister), who even had his own TV
show was heading a group of architects who wants to change the way our
cities work completely.
They believed the city as an organism shoud change at various rates.Partnering up with the Nakagin Construction Company, this man succeded to build a tower re presenting his idea. A tower that is made out of steel that hosts lifts and staircases for the capsules that will be plugged on it later.
The tower was permanent and the capsules were to be replaced every 25 years. The capsules were likes leaves on a tree. They were an aesthetic of death instead of an aesthetic of eternity
In 1972 September, the construction was completed. The capsule rooms that were built off the site and had their own built-in calculator, tv, radio and shower captured the public's attention.In a month's time all 140 of the capsules were sold out.
Unlike the projection of the designer, the buyers were not only in-town bachelors. 42 capsules were used by families that used the capsules as an extension to their home. Another 42 were bought by companies that found the capsules a good alternative to the hotel rooms. 56 capsules were owned by the in town bachelors.
It didn't take a long time for Nakagin Company to decide on turning
this new field of industry into a big profit maker for themselves. They
requested Kurokawa's office to design 14 more towers next to the existing towers in Ginza to host 3920 capsules.By the mid-October 1972 there were many complaints for the unpractical interior of the capsules which opened the door for another industry to go into the capsule business. The "interior knocking down" teams were making good money for customizing the interiors of the capsules.
The number of complaints became more and more while the quick construction was almost finished. The towers were almost finished but clearly the capsules were not working with the built-in interiors.
