BEAUTIFUL PARKING Once upon a time the parking garage was created as a dark place filled with sinister shadows and exhaust fumes. But it doesn't have to be that way. Over the past few years some of the best parking garages have been designed and constructed to be more like parking palaces, as architects focus their design creativity on making the inner-city garage an aesthetic contributor to our urban experience. — Published 2006.1115
	ROTTERDAM VERANDA Can a parking garage be sexy? The new Veranda Parking Garage in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with its soft curves and elegant detailing, seems about as sensuous and inviting as a garage can be. Designed by the firm of Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter b.v., part of the Veranda's allure, like most things sexy, is in what you can't see. In this case, it's the extraordinary story of the building's construction. — Published 2005.1012
	AN ELEGANT SHED IN AMSTERDAM As part of a construction project at Amsterdam Central Station, a temporary parking garage has been built, not for cars but for 2500 bicycles. The remarkable structure near the Hotel Ibis overhangs a canal, allowing touring boats to maneuver below. Open to the weather and shaped by its sloping ramps, the project is the product of the young Dutch firm VMX Architects under the leadership of project architect Don Murphy. — Published 2003.0409
	RESTORING THE GIANT FOREST The notion that architecture should fit the vernacular of its surroundings did not begin in U.S. national parks, but few other architectural styles seem to sit as comfortably in the landscape as the "national park rustic" style. — Published 2002.0626
	LONDON'S THAMES BARRIER PARK Thames Barrier Park is the first riverside park to be built in London for over 50 years. Since it opened in late 2000, it has won design accolades from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the American Institute of Architecture (AIA), and most recently, the United Kingdom's Civic Trust Award 2002 for landscape design. — Published 2002.0529
	WILKINSON EYRE WIN STIRLING PRIZE An abandoned steel works in the north of England, converted into a science adventure theme park, has won this year's Stirling Prize, the United Kingdom's most prestigious award for architecture. The steelworks in Rotherham provides a cathedral-like theatre for industrial history, taking what could have been a glum reflection of the past and turning it into an interactive adventure with humor and excitement. — Published 2001.1205

Parks and Parking