There aren’t many people who like parking garages. Some find them claustrophobic because of their low clearance. Others find them dark and drab because of their lack of lighting. For some people, parking garages are even dangerous, acting as places where criminals can hide behind vehicles and pounce on unsuspecting victims.
On the outside, these structures are just open concrete slabs with no relationship to their context. They could be in the middle of downtown or the middle of the suburbs, and they’d still look the same. The Parking House Ejler Bille in København, Denmark is the first of its kind to challenge that perception.
The use of steel mesh helps create a sense of partial transparency. Similar to a fence, the mesh gives the parking garage the airiness it needs to ventilate exhaust fumes while preserving its integrity as an enclosure. Even if the garage is not completely open to the exterior, the building can still breathe. The façade might not be so extravagant, but this understated aesthetic is a key part of what makes the structure familiar. It resonates with people in its resemblance to many buildings they’ve seen before, but its functionality remains slightly concealed.
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