Completed in 1972 the Nakagin Capsule Tower was a rare remaining example of Japanese Metabolism (alongside the older Kyoto International Conference Center), an architectural movement emblematic of Japan’s postwar cultural resurgence. It was the world’s first example of capsule architecture ostensibly built for permanent and practical use.

The capsules that make up the main structure of Nakagin Tower were designed to be rotated and replaced every 25 years. However, lack of funds resulted in rotation and replacement of capsules that never took place and ultimately led to a deterioration of the structure.

Inside Japan did a fabulous video that toured the inside of the units and talked with one of the remaining owners.

The building, however, fell into disrepair. Only around thirty of the 140 capsules were still in use as apartments by October 2012, while others were used for storage or office space, or simply abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. There is the additional problem that the structure no longer adheres to modern earthquake standards in quake prone Tokyo.

Now the tower’s time has come and the building is now officially being dismantled. There is one bright spot: the current owners, Tatsuyuki Maeda, explained that a team is trying to preserve some of the capsules and regenerate them as accommodation units and museum installations around the world. Maeda’s statements are based on an announcement by the Kisho Kurokawa Chiyoda-ku Office of Architects and Urban Design that it aims to dismantle the iconic architecture and reuse its capsules as accommodation units and museum installations. Nakagin Capsule Tower A606 Project is extracting and preserving various unique unit components and extracting unit A606 to put on display with all of it’s original equipment.