Nakagin Capsule Tower: MoMA is dedicating a monographic exhibition to Kisho Kurokawa's masterpiece

The Nakagin Capsule Tower, designed in 1972 by architect Kisho Kurokawa in Tokyo's Ginza district, is one of the most celebrated and rare built expressions of Japanese Metabolism, a radical architectural wave that, inspired by the principles of organic and cellular mutation, has often struggled to translate the visionary nature of its design solutions into built form.

From July 2025, more than fifty years after its construction and three since its controversial demolition, the MoMA in New York revives this metabolic manifesto with the exhibition “The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower”, but rather than treating the tower as a relic of architectural archaeology, the show presents it as a living organism: still rich with meaning, transformation, and interpretive potential. 

The exhibition, on view through July 2026 in the museum’s street-level galleries, is anchored by capsule A1305, one of the 140 modular units that made up the original building. Acquired by MoMA in 2023 after the tower’s dismantling, the capsule has been meticulously reconstructed using original furniture and fixtures salvaged from surviving units. Measuring just over ten square meters, the space has been restored to reflect its original function and appearance. Yet, this identity was far from static: over time, these temporary dwellings for commuters were reimagined as artists’ studios, improvised libraries, tea rooms, galleries, and creative refuges, an evolution that pushed the project well beyond its architect’s intentions.

“The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower”—curated by Evangelos Kotsioris and Paula Vilaplana de Miguel—invites reflection on how cities confront aging architecture and the pressures of rapid urbanization. This narrative unfolds through a remarkable collection of archival materials, many never before shown to the public: the project’s only surviving model from 1970–72, original drawings, photographs, promotional ephemera, archival film and audio recordings, first-hand accounts from former residents, and an interactive 3D model of the building that visitors can virtually explore.

With this tribute, MoMA reintroduces the Nakagin Capsule Tower not merely as a building, but as an ecosystem: a prototype of flexible urban living and a utopian vision, perhaps ultimately unfulfilled, yet still capable of offering a vital lesson on architecture’s adaptability and the enduring power of its many lives.

Exhibition: "The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower" Curated by: Evangelos Kotsioris and Paula Vilaplana Where: MoMA, New York, United States Dates: from July 10, 2025 to July 12, 2026