Metabolism (architecture)
Metabolism is a kind of architecture that began in Japan around 1960. This way of designing buildings came out of the rebuilding of Japan after World War II. Members of the group include: Kiyoshi Awazu, Noboru Kawazoe, Kiyonori Kikutake, Kisho Kurokawa, Fumihiko Maki, Masato Otaka, and Kenzō Tange. They wrote a short book in English and Japanese called "The proposals for a New Urbanism" for the World Design Conference in 1960. Many Metabolist projects or designs were very large city plans called megastructures. The members thought of cities as living things that changed over long periods of time.[1]
These architects were interested in building housing for large numbers of people. They often planned buildings that could be changed. One example is the Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kurokawa (1972). Each apartment was a rectangular block with one round window. These blocks could be added, moved, or removed as needed. It was a "plug-in building". Kurokawa planned for new, better capsules to be added to replace old ones.[2] However, the tower was broken apart in 2022.[3]
Metabolism (architecture) Media
The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo displayed small apartment units (capsules) attached to a central building core.
Kikutake used a photo of Marina City to illustrate the idea of capsules plugged onto a central tower.
Urban master plan of Skopje 1963
The Yamanashi Press and Broadcaster Centre
The Nakagin Capsule Tower.
Hillside Terrace A B in Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan, designed by Fumihiko Maki in 1969.
References
- ↑ Fletcher, Margaret (2020). Architectural styles : a visual guide. Robbie Polley. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 194–195. ISBN 978-0-691-21378-1. OCLC 1232277702.
- ↑ Solomon, Yuki (30 April 2007). "Kurokawa's Capsule Tower To Be Razed". The Architectural Record. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
- ↑ Florian, Maria-Cristina (2022-08-09). "Gluon Preserves the Now-Dismantled Nakagin Capsule Tower Building in the Metaverse". ArchDaily.
