Boing boing just linked to a gallery of pics of the Nakagin Capsule Tower - Ginza, Tokyo - which was mentioned in that book I rambled on about a few weeks back (in a post titled "Boids").
I much prefer our Habitat '67 by Moshe Safdie.
(Of course, socio-cultural and space considerations are vastly different between the two...)
(CBC radio archive of an interview with people who lived in it. Originally broadcast Oct.25th, 1967)
Google search for Expo Habitat 67
Very cool!
I've got a great book featuring this and a lot more of cool retro/modern architecture and interior in Japan: Comoesta YAEGASHI's Mod East.
Boris, if you never had the opportunity you should go there and take a walk in the building. The creation and management of spaces are genius. :)
The same goes for Habitat. Its a testament to how a 'house' becomes a 'home'. The entire complex is built of prefab modules and there are but a few remaining with their original fixtures whose designs have aged less well for their, well, fixity. They just look cheap and old now.
Residents often buy adjoining apartment that become conjoined but only modified with Safdie-approved structural adjustments such as doorways, hallways etc. You can pretty much do anything you want with the interiors though and the ones I've seen were handsomely decorated thanks to the enduring property value that comes with living in a heritage site.
Looks like the Nakagin tower wasn't so lucky. Maybe its because it looks like a stack of front loading washer/dryers?
