The Architecture of Parking

Housing the maximum number of cars in a well-designed space is one of the most challenging aspects of twentieth-century architecture, which has attracted a stellar array of architects.

From Louis Kahn to Rem Koolhaas, from Paul Rudolph to Zaha Hadid to Kengo Kuma, architects have used the parking garage as a scene of experimentation for innovating new ideas about materiality, form, structure and use that ultimately inform their buildings.

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.

The Architecture of Parking is an inspirational resource for students, professional architects, urban planners, engineers, developers, and anyone interested in how construction for cars has shaped our built world.