PARKING GARAGE: GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE

As we face up to the needs of climate protection over the next few years, we'll see that the decades-long trend of steadily increasing automobile vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the U.S. will be reversed for decades to come.

Contemplating a nation, and ultimately a world, with declining total VMT, it's increasingly clear that henceforth, most construction of new auto infrastructure — almost any new lane-miles of highway, for instance — represents soon-stranded investment, at best.

The parking garage may be an outstanding exception. As U.S. communities transition toward the more mixed-use, closer-in, denser development patterns that will support our restless lifestyles with less driving, "structured parking" can help finesse the fact that most of us will still be using cars for many years to come.

CHANGING SHAPES OF SPACE - ZAHA HADID

Since 2000, Zaha Hadid has become one of the most successful, recognized and prolific architects working today. In 2004, she won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered by many to be the discipline's highest honor. Her face has become familiar to millions on the pages of fashion magazines as well as on those of the more specialized publications on architecture.

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