SPATIAL

In the theory of space - forming (architecture, urbanism) we have been witnessing the terms capsule and capsularization since the legendary projects of Archigram and the Japanese Metabolists from the 1960s onwards.

'The capsule is cyborg architecture, Man, machine and space build a new organic body which transcends the confrontation...it creates the artificial environment in itself...A device which has become a living space in itself, in the sense that the man cannot hope to live elsewhere, is a capsule. And signs of such development are beginning to appear around us'
Kisho Kurokawa, Capsule Declaration, 1969

Although some other architects and groups from the late fifties and sixties already manipulated the capsular / hi-tech / sci-fi aesthetics in an obvious plea for super technological possibilities and a revolt to old-school functionalism at the same time, seldom the term 'capsule' was used in their projects. Archigram project 'Capsule Homes' by Warren Chalk from 1964 was one in which the space-capsule aesthetics and logic was used for constructing the housing as a consumer product . The fascinating works of Chalk, Cook, Crompton, Green, Herron, and Webb powerfully work on the level of functionalistic parodies shrinking the established 'existenzminimum' packed in the capsules to the maximum...taking the best (economic) benefit out of the building-site potential. The method and position are in most cases apolitical. It seems that the adoration of the technological development and possibilities in the consumer society occupied attention to such a technocratic extent that the social analysis and the public functioning were somehow neglected or were at least not in the first plane. The same can be seen in the works of Reyner Banham (Theory and Design in the First Machine Age) and Buckminster Fuller (geodesic dome above Manhattan, 1969), and dubiously in the projects of Cedric Price (since Potteries Thinkbelt involved implications of extreme conditioning), whereas the social function was the project's main focus in Yona Friedman's projects (L'architecture mobile 1958). Connection of the Japanese Metabolists to Archigram is evident. They reacted to the 1960's spatial conditions in Japan to propose plug-in megastructures akin to those of Archigram. Most of the Metabolists's projects were not buildable or not realized also due to their ecstatic futurism, though the built projects of Kikutake's - Sky House (1958) and Kurokawa's - Nagakin Tower (1971) set up the foundation on which not only the Japanese architectural tradition had based some of its identity and projections in the years to come. In all projects the fascination with infrastructure is more than present - in some projects it is the means of architecture, in others its most necessary component. Already in these examples we can read the networks (infrastructure) and the capsules as mutually depending structural elements coexisting in hyperreality, usually placelessly placed above the ground.
Kurokawa defines the capsule as a device that connect the man and the machine. The customization and ergonomics of the spatial functions in the capsule are an obvious fact on which its miss dwells - same environment for everybody? The 'mass customization' principle, which reacted to this fact at least trend-set if not revolutionalized the architectural design propositions of the new millenium. Still, the definition of the "capsule as a dwelling for Homo Movens" (Kurokawa) is still as much of a topic as it was in the sixties (Yona Friedman, Chtcheglov, Archigram).
Kurokawa ...follows the avant-garde idolatry of the machine, and for him, too, technology has an emancipatory power: capsular architecture will create a free society centred on the individual, freedom and mobility. (De Cauter) 'Future society shoud be constituted of mutually independent individual spaces, determined by the free will of the individuals...Each space should be a highly independent shelter where the inhabitant can fully develop his individuality. Such space is a capsule...the capsule aims at diversified society. (Kurokawa, 1969).
The irony of this world of total mobility escapes Kurokawa completely (This can be attributed to the optimism of the period in general and to the Japanese economic miracle in particular. But there is not a trace of irony to be found in a recent book, either (Kisho Kurokawa, Each One a Hero - The Philosophy of Symbiosis, Kodansha International, 1997) in which Kurokawa expounds his world-view in detail. The Philosophy of Symbiosis is an attempt to provide the technological vision of the Metabolists with a sound basis in Buddhism. With a view to this, it is translated into a general world theory: the philosophy of symbiosis - something Kurokawa has been working on since 1970s. This idea of the reconcilliation between nature and culture, between reason and creativity, between technology and spirituality, between East and West, is based on naive optimism that seems almost cynical. Yet pehaps it is this cynical-sounding naiveté that explains the prophetic value of Kurokawa's 'Capsule Declaration'. In the meantime, however, the capsule as an architectural model has become part of our lives, not only in transport systems, but also in gated communities, enclosed malls, enclaves and ghettos. (DeCauter p.67)
How can the capsularity Kurokawa has in mind, the capsularity of free will and mobility really be compared with the capsularity of the present reality, the capsularity of power, control and exclusion? Maybe the answer lies in the analysis of the scale of the capsule. Kurokawa is talking about capsules as units of individuals, which affect, or better, compose the public realm - communal space, social space....which is not called a capsule. It is rather a self organized void formed by the capsule dwellers in contrast to present day large scale capsules which are organized with the mechanisms of power and control. What both forms of capsularity have in common is their relation to the 'ground'.
Capsular architecture is called placeless - and placelessness is one of the themes of the contemporary debate: from Marc Auge's 'non-lieu' vie Sorkin's 'a-geographical city' to Manuel Castells's 'spaces of flows' (as opposed to 'spaces of place') (De Cauter, p. 66)
And here the frightening hypothesis comes to play. The contemporary generic city is a placeless formation without relation to place. Its only relation is the relation to the instruments of power and capital. *Koolhaas generic city

Capsule architecture is the architecture of the generic city. The capsule is a device that creates an artificial ambiente, which minimizes the communication with the outside by forming its space-time millieu, an enclosed artificial environment. All means of transport beyond certain level of speed - and here lies the metaphor - become capsules: the train, the automobile, the aeroplane and, obviously, the space capsule. These are real capsules. Besides these there are also virtual capsules, such as screen, a Walkman, a mobile phone...Indeed, architecture and urba design can be capsular as well: the airport, the shopping mall, the theme park, the gated community. The hype surrounding mobility, the network, boundlessness and smoothness functions on the basis of these capsules. Capsules are also engines of simulations: they generate a simulation of public sphere. (De Cauter, p. 45)

In light of the generic city, the CIAM declaration of 1951 takes on a prophetic undertone: "If new towns are built without the core, they will never become more than camps."(1)
Is the generic city a camp? It is, according to the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. In this view, more and more people are falling outside the ordinance of social life (bios) and into the ordinance of mere existence (zoe). (De Cauter, p. 22)
('A short Outline of the Core. Extracts from Statements Prtepared During the 8th Congress of CIAM', in: J.Tyrhwitt, J.L.Sert, E.N.Rogers (eds.), The Heart of the City, towards the humanisation of Urban Life, Kraus Reprint, Nenedeln 1979, p.165)

Literature>
A Guide to Archigram 1961-74, Academy Editions,1994
De Cauter, L., The Capsular Civilization, NAi Publishers, 2004
Frampton, K., Modern Architecture: A Critical History, Thames and Hudson, 1980
Jencks, Ch., Modern Movements in Architecture, Pengun Books, 1985
Agamben, G., Homo Sacer