All boxed up: museums to adopt and preserve Tokyo's Nakagin Tower capsules

Demolition work at the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo started last month. Some of its 140 capsules will be shipped to museums around the world for preservation. Photo: Bloomberg

Nakagin Capsule Tower, a building tucked away in a corner of downtown Tokyo that is made up of boxes stacked on top of each other, is an avant garde honeycomb of science-fiction-era housing long admired as a masterpiece.

It’s now being demolished in a careful process that includes preserving some of its 140 capsules, to be shipped to museums around the world.