GAS, GLASS, AND GRASS

Once upon a time, parking garages were designed as dark, dirty places filled with sinister shadows and exhaust fumes. Not anymore. Over the past few years some new parking garage are more like parking palaces, as architects focus their design creativity on making the inner-city garage an aesthetic part of our urban experience. Next week ArchitectureWeek contributing editor Michael J. Crosbie will explain the lessons learned from the unorthodox Parkhaus Engelenschanze in Münster, Germany, designed by wittfoht architekten. (Photo by Werner Huthmacher, Berlin)

ACADIA TURNS 25

At a recent conference at the University of Kentucky, the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture marked its quarter century of action in promoting the use of computers to enhance design creativity in architecture, planning, and building science. With the theme of “Synthetic Landscapes,” the conference presentations and workshops explored the relationship between design and physical construction. Next week, Theodore W. Hall will show us some of this intriguing research. (Pictured: a 50-million pixel display from Mersive Technologies.)