Cover Art—1972 - New Delta Review

Cover Art—1972

Noritaka Minami

Artist’s Statement: Since 2010, Minami has been investigating the Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972), an experimental building in Tokyo designed by the architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934 -2007). As the world’s first as well as last apartment complex designed with removable capsule units, the Nakagin Capsule Tower stands in Tokyo today as a poignant reminder of a utopian future imagined to be possible in the 1960s as well as a future that never came. Furthermore, it now faces the threat of demolition because of the conditions within the city of Tokyo and the deteriorating condition of the structure itself. This photographic series captures the building as it faces this uncertain fate. The project is a response to the building’s potential disappearance as a tangible piece of cultural memory in Tokyo. The camera engages this singular presence in the city in order to explore the history of the capsules since 1972 and the current condition of this vision of the future from the past.

See more of Noritaka Minami’s work here.