The Nakagin Capsule Residence

Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007) was a Japanese architect best known for the part he played in the Metabolist movement in architecture. He is known specifically for the Nakagin Capsule Tower, which remains one of the only built examples of the theories from this era of design.
Impermanence is a fundamental theme in the Metabolist movement because it comes from the post WW2 situation in Japan where housing had been a problem, and it was thought that a quick, replenishable architecture could solve these problems. Kurokawa sites a history of violence and natural disasters in Japan as having an influence on a national mentality that doesn't take to a linear sense of eternality.

The building is made up of individually built housing capsules that are plugged into a core structural shaft. According to Kurokawa the capsules are meant to be replaced and recycled every 25 years so the building could potentially last 200 years. The capsules were built off of an assembly line process by Aruna Koki, a company that builds shipping containers; they are made of all welded lightweight steel. Also like the shipping containers, these capsules could be transported around in the same ways, ie rail and truck. The intention was to include the possibility that a resident could remove their capsule and take it away as a home for a travelling trip.

By designing with a scope of impermanence Kisho Kurokawa designed a building which translated the traditional Japanese idea of multi-use spaces into a contemporary proposal for a sustainable architecture.