Photography by Noritaka Minami.

The Nakagin Capsule Tower (中銀カプセルタワ) is a mixed-use residential and office tower designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa, located in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1972, the building is a rare built example of Japanese Metabolism, a movement that became emblematic of Japan´s postwar cultural resurgence. Another example is the Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center in Ginza, Tokyo. The Nagakin Tower building was the world´s first example of capsule architecture built for actual use. The building is still in use, but has fallen into disrepair. In 2012, around thirty of the 140 capsules remained in use as apartments, while others were used for storage or office space, or simply abandoned and allowed to deteriorate.

Noritaka Minami is an artist based in Boston and Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 where he studied Art Practice and Asian American Studies. In 2011, he completed a M.F.A. in Studio Art at the University of California, Irvine with an emphasis in the Visual Studies Program. Minami is interested in applying the medium of photography as a means of investigating history and memory associated with sites.
Minami has taught photography at UC Berkeley and UC Irvine. He currently works as a Teaching Assistant in Photography at the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University.

www.noritakaminami.com