The striking building in Miami Beach has come top of a shortlist of 10 cool car parks in the competition run by Stress Free Airport Parking and FX magazine.
Described as the most radical work they’ve ever done by the Swiss architecture firm – whose projects also include Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium (designed in collaboration with artist Ai Weiwei) – 1111 Lincoln Road went up against some of the world’s most spectacular places to park, including one in Detroit that has given new life to part of the beautiful, abandoned Michigan Theatre and a subterranean car park in Lyon that uses a giant revolving mirror in its base to harness light from the sun.
Completed in 1926, the Michigan Theatre closed in the Seventies and is now a car park. Photo: Bob Jagendorf
Parc Des Célestins in Lyon. Photo: © Daniel Buren
Other contenders for the title included The Eureka Tower Car Park in Melbourne where signs painted directly onto the walls and floors in the style of Swiss artist Felice Varini are legible only from certain angles, so that they come into view at the precise moment motorists need to see them.
Miami’s Ballet Valet Parking Garage by Arquitectonica. Photo: Dan Forer
Miami – twice voted the US city with the rudest drivers – can at least be proud of its car parks: it was the only city in the world to have two in the top 10.
But the UK didn’t lose out: Birmingham’s blue-glowing Millennium Point by Urban Design (now Acivico) and Sheffield’s RIBA award-winning Charles Street car park – AKA the ‘Cheese Grater‘ – by architects Allies & Morrison both made the shortlist.
The ‘Cheese Grater’, Sheffield’s Charles Street car park by Allies and Morrison Architects. Photo: Dennis Gilbert
FX assistant editor and DesignCurial editor Jamie Mitchell, who helped choose the winner, said: ‘With more than a billion cars on the world’s roads, it’s hardly surprising that some of our best architects have turned their talents on the humble car park.
‘While most of us still have to settle for parking our cars in utilitarian concrete hulks, the 10 car parks in this shortlist show how imaginative and innovative these buildings can be.’
Birmingham’s blue-glowing Millennium Point by Urban Design (now Acivico)
Veranda Car Park in Rotterdam by Paul de Ruiter
Mitchell continued: ‘The winner – Herzog & de Meuron’s 1111 Lincoln Road – is a brave work of architecture that shows off its function rather than attempting to hide it. With no exterior walls, the cars parked inside become an ever-changing feature of the building – and the open design means it also gives great views over the city.
‘But as well as being a bold, striking structure, this is also a carefully thought-out, multi-faceted work of architecture that brings together retail, parking and leisure facilities. Much more than a car park, it is now an architectural icon that’s beloved of those who use it – there have even been weddings and yoga classes there.’
1111 Lincoln Road. Photo: ©Hufton + Crow
©Hufton + Crow
Completed in 2010 the open-air structure has no exterior walls; instead its concrete floor plates are supported by buttresses and cantilevers, with floor heights varying from 8 to 34 ft. Lifts and a central winding staircase take drivers to and from their cars. A glassed-in fashion boutique, sits on an edge of the fifth floor and there’s more retail space at street level. Developer Robert Wennett even built himself a penthouse apartment in the buildng that also features a pool and gardens.
©Hufton + Crow
©Hufton + Crow
©Hufton + Crow
©Hufton + Crow
The top 10 in full:
The top 3:
1111 Lincoln Road
Location: Miami
Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Parc des Celestins
Location: Lyon, France
Architects: Michael Targe, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Daniel Bure
Parc Des Célestins in Lyon. Photo: © Daniel Buren
Charles Street, Sheffield
Location: Sheffield, UK
Architects: Allies and Morrison Architects
Photo: Dennis Gilbert
The seven finalists:
Michigan Theatre
Location: Detroit, USA
Architects (of original theatre): Rapp & Rapp
Veranda Car Park
Location: Rotterdam, Holland
Architects: Paul de Ruiter
Photo: Rien van Rijthoven
Cordova Parkade
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Architects: Henriquez Partners Architects
Car Park Plaza
Location: Ca¡novas, Spain
Architects: Teresa Sapey Estudio de Arquitectura
Photo: Teresa Sapey Estudio de Arquitectura
Ballet Valet Parking Garage
Location: Miami, USA
Architects: Arquitectonica
Photo: Dan Forer
Eureka Tower Car Park
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Design: Emerystudio/Axel Peemöller
Millenium Point, Birmingham
Location: Birmingham, UK
Architects: Urban Design (now Acivico)
