The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo will be demolished starting April 12.
Photographer: Akio Kon/BloombergFarewell Capsule Tower, Tokyo’s Oddest Building
Built 50 years ago during Japan’s economic heyday, the architectural edifice imagined a future that never came.
Anyone who has seen Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower will remember it. Studded with grey cubes, the striking building carries an obvious architectural message: this is a modular habitat.
Built half a century ago during Japan’s dizzying ascent as an economic power, the 140-unit complex has been left behind by the times, overshadowed by taller and sleeker skyscrapers that overlook the city of 14 million.