If I were the sort of person who had a Christmas present wants list and were looking to include a nice hardback art book on it, I’d probably go with this one:
From the T&H site:
This is the first major international survey of parking garages ever published. Multi-levelled like a car park itself, the book presents visual essays, project spreads and case studies that feature ground-breaking historical and recent structures in photographs and drawings.
From the iconic Marina City towers in Chicago to the latest robotic technology at the Volkswagen Autotürme in Germany, the author shows how the form and function of the parking garage has been hugely influential not only on generations of architects but on popular culture, capturing the imagination of novelists, photographers and film-makers.
I think they’re dressing it up in the description. Judging by the little feature on tonight’s Front Row there’s also plenty of concrete Brutalism and musings on the otherworldly nature of a car park. The lack of people, the strange acoustics, the disconcerting lawlessness of an urban nowhere land. That’s much more interesting that fancy-pants modern stuff (although those robotic parks are pretty cool).
If you’re wondering why I’m so drawn to this it’s because (as some of you will remember) I once worked in one and, along side the general oddness of spending 8 hours in a car park, was drawn to the aesthetics of a decaying municipal building as seen in these photos. Here’s one I still like.
Though I really should go back now I’ve got a better camera.
Anyway, since I’m not the Christmas list sort of person I’ll be ordering that book from L’Amazone. Can’t wait
oo nice. bounder would like this, he’s obsessed with the “metal car park” on Brunel Street