Once Alive

For the past twelve years, Noritaka Minami has been documenting the slow decline of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, Kisho Kurokawa’s 1972 Metabolist wonderwork. The resultant body of photographs observes capsules in medias res, during the long move-out, in total disrepair and, finally, as they were demolished (most of the original 140) or entering preservation (about 33). Now on view as 1972/Accumulations at the MAS Context Reading Room in Chicago, they were the subject of a poignant Zoom conversation on Tuesday evening. Can a building survive its own death? Minami, historian Ken Tadashi Oshima, curator Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, and MAS Context’s Iker Gil circled this question with generosity and vigor, even suggesting that preserved capsules flourishing in new contexts may be a proof of concept of the Metabolist project. But for this listener, their expansive thinking could not dislodge the quiet reminder of Minami’s pictures: once this place was alive.