— Orientation, disorientation, integration into the city: the challenges of design in car parks
The place of the car and the place dedicated to its parking is strongly reduced in the centre of our cities. This is certainly not the end of the century of the car, but it is surely the beginning of a new urban, aesthetic and anthropological adventure.
On these large surfaces used by car parks, we must imagine a future in connection with the surrounding areas, contemporary and future uses, new practices. For one day, the car parks of our cities will become places of life, places to visit, spaces to discover, not for their collections of cars, but for themselves, for their majestic structures, above or below ground. Some car parks have already been transformed into living spaces when their primary function has disappeared: housing, offices, art spaces, shops.
These forward-looking thoughts are shared by many players in the sector. But faced with current and concrete contemporary urban issues, how can car parks succeed in transforming and adapting? In which directions, with which players and on which economic model? There are many thoughts and proposals on this subject. Architects, urban planners, car park managers, public and private players are working on this change of direction. From Dominique Perrault's "groundscape" to the new experimental modular structures already developed, there is no shortage of initiatives to give these spaces a new purpose.
— In Strasbourg, the Gutenberg car park also becomes an exhibition space
In the recent projects developed by dix—milliards—humains, these new uses find a unique place of expression. The new mobilities are pushing in this direction, but also the uses of the future, consequences of technological evolutions, of life in more resilient urban areas, more respectful of the environment and with a more harmonious development. In collaboration with the company Parcus, dix-milliards-humains has carried out work on four car parks in Strasbourg: the Petite France car park, the Saint-Nicolas car park, the Opéra Broglie car park and the recently delivered Gutenberg car park. Focus on this last project which presents, in the heart of the city, a real journey through the history of typographic creation.