Day 3517: Flashpoint

"Flashpoint": junk mail collage, ink & digital.

Want music?

Click here, Ryan Toby, Oh Happy Day.

then click back on this blog tab or here to listen as you browse, or not?

 

 

 

 

Update ...

 

I so appreciate you who stop by this little blog when you can. I know you never know what you will get? When I first started 3517 days ago ... I was told to have a subject matter, so people would know what to expect. But, as is obvious by now, I don't follow directions well.

 

I guess art friends are drawn to the art stuff,

my Karate family tune in around tournament time,

my family for family stuff,  some just stop by for the smiles? And, I bounce around in between.

Thanks for you patience.

 

2GN2S ...

Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower to be demolished

 

 I remember reading about this when it was built in 1972, as a vision of urban living in the future. I saw it on my first trip to Japan in 1979. So it makes  me sad that the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, will be demolished this month, according to the building's new owners.

 The tower comprises 144 factory-built units arranged around two concrete cores. Each 10-square-meter (108-square-foot) "capsule" features a porthole-style window, with appliances and furniture built into the structure of each home

A furnished capsule room inside Nakagin Capsule (Carl Court)

The building is considered a prime example of Metabolism, an architectural movement that emerged from the ruins of World War II with a radical new vision for Japan's cities. As well as embracing technology and mass production, the avant-garde group's members looked to nature for inspiration, with structural components treated like organic cells that could be "plugged" into a larger whole or later replaced. 

 

The building's designer, Kisho Kurokawa -- one of Metabolism's youngest adherents -- had originally envisaged the Tokyo tower's capsules being replaced every 25 years. But they instead grew outdated, with many of the apartments now sitting empty, used for storage and office space, or rented out to architecture enthusiasts on a short-term basis. 

Preservationists hope some of the the 108-square-foot capsules can be saved and repurposed or acquired by museums. Credit: Carl Court

Owners again agreed to sell in 2021, and the building was acquired by a group of real estate firms operating under the name Capusule Tower Building (CTB). A spokesperson for the joint venture, Takashi Shindo, told CNN over the phone that the last residents moved out last month, with demolition scheduled to begin April 12.

 

A "Save Nakagin" sign is displayed in a window of Nakagin Capsule Tower in November 2021. Credit: Carl Court

"We are determined to preserve the capsules, even if the building is demolished," said Maeda. "Dozens of capsules with relatively little aging will be recovered and rehabilitated. 

 

Maeda said the project has received around 80 inquiries, with the Centre Pompidou in Paris among the museums to have expressed interest in obtaining one, he added. The Museum of Modern Art in Saitama, Japan, meanwhile has a unit in its collection already. 

 

* Thanks to Sakai Atomu for sending me this great video link where you will go inside some cubicles:

https://youtu.be/6SwvtBxxp2w

 

 

 

 

An informative 3-minute video, coffee, here.

  

Just because ...

 

Hawfinch

 

 

Smiles for Wednesday ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               Thanks for coming by today.