Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd by Yang Tian

Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd by Yang Tian is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Duais Iarainn A' Design Award in Dealbhadh Grafaigean, Dealbh-mhìneachaidh agus Conaltradh Lèirsinneach Competition Category.

IarannGrafaig· 2025

Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd

by Yang Tian

Duais Iarainn A' Design Award Winner in Grafaig Category

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The Design

About Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd

Gus ùr-aithneachadh a thoirt air Ùrachd na Seapaine às dèidh a' chogaidh, tha Kisho Kurokawa, am ball a b' òige den bhuidheann Metabolism, a' smaointinn air taigheadas ùr-nodha mar cheallan fa leth. Bidh iad a' gluasad, a' cnàmh, a' fàs, agus a' crìonadh, a' toirt fiosrachaidh do chomann-sòisealta ùr far nach bi daoine a' fuireach tuilleadh ann an àite stèidhichte. Tha A' Fosgladh Sgeul Nakagin a' cleachdadh a' phàipeir-naidheachd mar mheadhan gus clàradh agus leudachadh a dhèanamh air mac-meanmna Metabolism seo, tro fhosgladh gus sgeul bailteil a chruthachadh.

The Recognition

About the Duais Iarainn A' Design Award

Tha Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd air Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a bhuannachadh, aithneachadh urramach a bheirear do dhealbhaidhean math a choinnicheas ris na riatanasan proifeiseanta is gnìomhachais a thathar a' sùileachadh bho chruthachaidhean a chaidh an dealbhadh gu math. Tha buannaichean Iarainn a' nochdadh sgil mhòr, speisealachadh àrd, tuigse eòlaiche agus comas cruthachail an luchd-cruthachaidh. Thathar an dùil gum bi Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd na chruthachadh air a bheil mòran meas, ion-mholta agus gràdhach a tha practaigeach agus ùr-ghnàthach. Tha an dealbhadh seo a bhuannaich Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a' cur nan cleachdaidhean as fheàrr sa ghnìomhachas còmhla agus tha feartan teignigeach comasach aige ceangailte ri eòlas-dèanamh agus tàlant. Tha meas air Unfolding A Nakagin Story Postair Pàipear-naidheachd airson a dhùrachd agus chaidh a dhealbhadh gus leasachaidhean càileachd beatha a thoirt seachad a chuidicheas le bhith a' dèanamh an t-saoghail na àite nas fheàrr.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: To re-identify Japan’s Modernity after the war, Kisho Kurokawa, the youngest Metabolism group member, imagines modern housing as individual cells. They move, digest, grow, and decay, informing a new society where people no longer live in a fixed space. Unfolding a Nakagin Story uses the newspaper as a medium to document and expand this Metabolism imagination, through “unfolding” to fabricate an urban story.
Dimensions & Packaging: Cover: 8" X 12"

Newspaper: 16" x 24"
Tags: Nakagin, Metabolism, Heritage, Housing, Urbanism
Production Technology: Graphics are done in Photoshop and Illustrator, the architecture is modeled in Rhino with a grasshopper plugin to change patterns and orientation.
Design Challenge: How can we capture the concept of Metabolism, where buildings can grow and shrink over time? How should I identify individual differences while the building comprises the same rectangular blocks? These are the two biggest challenges I need to solve. By using newspaper as the medium, one can feel the growth through unfolding the paper. One can also read individual stories despite repeating units by showing the interior information of selected blocks.
Research: Focusing on post-war Japanese architecture, Metabolism was the most influential architectural movement from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Kisha Kurokawa changed the Western design ideology of FORM (ETERNAL) based living style to TIME (CHANGING) based living space. The Nakagin Capsule Tower is an iconic architecture that not only embraces ephemeral but also changes a collective to an individual-oriented living style.
Inspiration: To embrace the idea of flexibility and updating, the newspaper is a great medium as a representation tool. Newspaper changes every day with new information and unfolding it to gain new information reinforces the idea of metabolism. By unfolding the project, each time, the capsule patterns, window colors, shapes, and orientation change within an oblique neutral grid.
Project Duration: Duration: 3 months

Location: Boston, MA, USA
Operation Flow: You could unfold it three times, each time, the capsule patterns, window colors, shapes, and orientation change within an oblique neutral grid, and 7 capsules have been highlighted to expose the interior activities of an individual with personal information next to it. Individual yet connected, neutral yet different for each capsule. You will experience the beauty of the Nakagin capsule tower after you unfold its stories!