9 ms·

Decaying but beloved, Tokyo’s Capsule Tower faces uncertain future

89 points by vijayr02 5y ago

K0balt 5y ago
It would be interesting and worthwhile to expire the architectural features that led the residents to develop a sense of community. Was it just the iconic nature of the structure? Was it the way that the common spaces work? The very constrained space? Seems like valuable knowledge.
tomclancy 5y ago
Here's a recent video with a peek inside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwvtBxxp2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwvtBxxp2w
alephnan 5y ago
What is HackersNews and tech’s romantic obsession with Tokyo / things Japan? I went to this building last month to take pictures ( but I do with everything in Japan. Even the 1000th torii gate). Japanese people only started to stop after I did. Japanese people don’t care about this. That’s why it’s decaying. This is equally true of other things about Japan which westerners are obsessed with. Pretty much all the stuff on Atlas Obscura. Like the Namba Shrine in Osaka, one of the more edgy tourist spots, but the majority of Osakan natives I asked did not know it existed. You know what actually gets Japanese people wide eyed with excitement when a non-Japanese asks about it? The Shinsengumi. Meanwhile, what’s permeating across Japan are restaurants offering ingredients and a bbq pit for DIY American style BBQ , as well as camping/glamping equipment as a “lifestyle”, setting up tents for a picnic park. Edit: The trigger word about the article to me is “beloved”. To whom? Clearly it resonates with the HackerNews and tech crowd who romanticize that Japan/Tokyo is some futuristic cyberpunk fantasy. It’s really not. To the Japanese, this was an edgy building during experimental times in the 70s, but now it’s a liability. It just doesn’t make sense for Ginza anymore. If the concern is lost of neighborhood identity, the concern would be in the redevelopment of a bohemian neighborhood like Shimokitazawa. Otherwise, it’s like a Japanese article saying how beautiful and beloved the New York subway train graffiti of the 80s was and we shouldn’t clean it up.
- sojournerc 5y ago
  It's interesting. Isn't that enough? I wouldn't call it an obsession really. You went to take pictures, so it must be something right?
  - alephnan 5y ago
    I go to every “point of interest”. I’ve literally been to hundreds of temples and thousands of place in Kyoto alone, 996 for a year. Places like this is only significant to westerners. It’s aesthetic to me because it’s decaying, but doesn’t mean I think it needs to be preserved.
    - sojournerc 5y ago
      Not saying it should be preserved. The architecture is interesting. People here like architecture. That's enough.
      - alephnan 5y ago
        Architectural appeal is cultural. I minored in architectural history as well as Japanese history. People here might say they like architecture, but not might be familiar with Japan’s most celebrated mainstream architect, Tadao Ando. My apartment is designed by him, too. Back to my point about what the west perceives as interesting about Japan versus what Japanese people’s actual priorities. I still don’t think the argument that this obsolete capsule hotel is worth preserving as a cultural asset makes sense. I think the biased trigger word about this article for me is “beloved”. Beloved, but to whom?
        infecto 5y ago
        Cool
        alephnan 5y ago
        > People here might say they like architecture, but not might be familiar with Japan’s most celebrated mainstream architect, Tadao Ando Does this offend you?
omegaworks 5y ago
>“Europeans understand the need to preserve buildings like this, whereas Japan is still guided by a pull-down-and-rebuild mentality,” says Maeda It's actually incredibly admirable that affordable, modern housing is regularly built in one of the world's largest cities. Contrast this to the biggest American and European cities, where housing supply stagnation is the norm in service of promoting "neighborhood character" to demonstrably racist ends.
- alephnan 5y ago
  > “Europeans understand the need to preserve buildings like this, whereas Japan is still guided by a pull-down-and-rebuild mentality,” says Maeda Mr Maeda has a direct financial incentive to the financial preservation of this building. I don’t see what’s wrong with the pull down and rebuild mentality. We can appreciate and admire something’s aesthetic qualities, but it doesn’t mean it has to last forever. Atleast to the Japanese and Buddhist nihilism, everything is impermanent anyways. Why try to preserve a fleeting cherry blossom or autumn leaves, when it’s meant to be appreciated in the moment.
  - emodendroket 5y ago
    The autumn leaves or cherry blossoms come every season on their own. I guess it would probably be surprising to most Japanese people to learn they have no interest in attempting to preserve their history.
- Aeolun 5y ago
  > affordable That’s sort of debatable. It’s certainly possible to buy houses, but that’s mostly due to the incredibly low interest rate. Old houses that used to have a small sized garden are torn down and replaced with two or three much smaller houses filling the entire plot. It’s nice that there is enough housing available, but the character of the city is definitely changing.
  - mixmastamyk 5y ago
    People can’t live in “character.”
lstodd 5y ago
Might as well take a look at Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada
- bamboozled 5y ago
  That seems like quite different design / construction ?
- LNSY 5y ago
  Drop City and Los Angeles, while we're at it.
1e-9 5y ago
Previous related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27299363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27299363
dirtyid 5y ago
>But almost half a century on, time has caught up with the structure My heart will always have a softspot for metabolist architecture and their stupendous vision of the future, but always seemed like a maintenance nightmare, even on paper. 50 years isn't a long time.
retSava 5y ago
I love Tokyo and can't wait to go back. In the meantime, the Norra Tornen (northern towers) in Stockholm is pretty much complete and shares some resemblance :) Had our previous office closeby so was fun seeing them take shape during construction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norra_Tornen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norra_Tornen
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

89 points by vijayr02 5y ago

It would be interesting and worthwhile to expire the architectural features that led the residents to develop a sense of community. Was it just the iconic nature of the structure? Was it the way that the common spaces work? The very constrained space? Seems like valuable knowledge.

tomclancy 5y ago

Here's a recent video with a peek inside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwvtBxxp2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwvtBxxp2w

alephnan 5y ago

What is HackersNews and tech’s romantic obsession with Tokyo / things Japan? I went to this building last month to take pictures ( but I do with everything in Japan. Even the 1000th torii gate). Japanese people only started to stop after I did. Japanese people don’t care about this. That’s why it’s decaying. This is equally true of other things about Japan which westerners are obsessed with. Pretty much all the stuff on Atlas Obscura. Like the Namba Shrine in Osaka, one of the more edgy tourist spots, but the majority of Osakan natives I asked did not know it existed. You know what actually gets Japanese people wide eyed with excitement when a non-Japanese asks about it? The Shinsengumi. Meanwhile, what’s permeating across Japan are restaurants offering ingredients and a bbq pit for DIY American style BBQ , as well as camping/glamping equipment as a “lifestyle”, setting up tents for a picnic park. Edit: The trigger word about the article to me is “beloved”. To whom? Clearly it resonates with the HackerNews and tech crowd who romanticize that Japan/Tokyo is some futuristic cyberpunk fantasy. It’s really not. To the Japanese, this was an edgy building during experimental times in the 70s, but now it’s a liability. It just doesn’t make sense for Ginza anymore. If the concern is lost of neighborhood identity, the concern would be in the redevelopment of a bohemian neighborhood like Shimokitazawa. Otherwise, it’s like a Japanese article saying how beautiful and beloved the New York subway train graffiti of the 80s was and we shouldn’t clean it up.

sojournerc 5y ago
It's interesting. Isn't that enough? I wouldn't call it an obsession really. You went to take pictures, so it must be something right?
- alephnan 5y ago
  I go to every “point of interest”. I’ve literally been to hundreds of temples and thousands of place in Kyoto alone, 996 for a year. Places like this is only significant to westerners. It’s aesthetic to me because it’s decaying, but doesn’t mean I think it needs to be preserved.
  - sojournerc 5y ago
    Not saying it should be preserved. The architecture is interesting. People here like architecture. That's enough.
    - alephnan 5y ago
      Architectural appeal is cultural. I minored in architectural history as well as Japanese history. People here might say they like architecture, but not might be familiar with Japan’s most celebrated mainstream architect, Tadao Ando. My apartment is designed by him, too. Back to my point about what the west perceives as interesting about Japan versus what Japanese people’s actual priorities. I still don’t think the argument that this obsolete capsule hotel is worth preserving as a cultural asset makes sense. I think the biased trigger word about this article for me is “beloved”. Beloved, but to whom?
      - infecto 5y ago
        Cool
        alephnan 5y ago
        > People here might say they like architecture, but not might be familiar with Japan’s most celebrated mainstream architect, Tadao Ando Does this offend you?

omegaworks 5y ago

>“Europeans understand the need to preserve buildings like this, whereas Japan is still guided by a pull-down-and-rebuild mentality,” says Maeda It's actually incredibly admirable that affordable, modern housing is regularly built in one of the world's largest cities. Contrast this to the biggest American and European cities, where housing supply stagnation is the norm in service of promoting "neighborhood character" to demonstrably racist ends.

alephnan 5y ago
> “Europeans understand the need to preserve buildings like this, whereas Japan is still guided by a pull-down-and-rebuild mentality,” says Maeda Mr Maeda has a direct financial incentive to the financial preservation of this building. I don’t see what’s wrong with the pull down and rebuild mentality. We can appreciate and admire something’s aesthetic qualities, but it doesn’t mean it has to last forever. Atleast to the Japanese and Buddhist nihilism, everything is impermanent anyways. Why try to preserve a fleeting cherry blossom or autumn leaves, when it’s meant to be appreciated in the moment.
- emodendroket 5y ago
  The autumn leaves or cherry blossoms come every season on their own. I guess it would probably be surprising to most Japanese people to learn they have no interest in attempting to preserve their history.
Aeolun 5y ago
> affordable That’s sort of debatable. It’s certainly possible to buy houses, but that’s mostly due to the incredibly low interest rate. Old houses that used to have a small sized garden are torn down and replaced with two or three much smaller houses filling the entire plot. It’s nice that there is enough housing available, but the character of the city is definitely changing.
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  People can’t live in “character.”

lstodd 5y ago

Might as well take a look at Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada

bamboozled 5y ago
That seems like quite different design / construction ?
LNSY 5y ago
Drop City and Los Angeles, while we're at it.

1e-9 5y ago

Previous related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27299363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27299363

dirtyid 5y ago

>But almost half a century on, time has caught up with the structure My heart will always have a softspot for metabolist architecture and their stupendous vision of the future, but always seemed like a maintenance nightmare, even on paper. 50 years isn't a long time.

retSava 5y ago

I love Tokyo and can't wait to go back. In the meantime, the Norra Tornen (northern towers) in Stockholm is pretty much complete and shares some resemblance :) Had our previous office closeby so was fun seeing them take shape during construction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norra_Tornen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norra_Tornen

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]