The parkade sits across from Calgary?s new central library (by Snøhetta with DIALOG) and adjacent the burgeoning East Village district.
PROJECT 9th Avenue Parkade + Innovation Centre, Calgary, Alberta
ARCHITECTS 5468796 Architecture in collaboration with Kasian Architecture, Interior Design and Planning
TEXT Trevor Boddy
PHOTOS James Brittain
On the long list of architectural virtues, ?future proofing? is a particularly tricky one to pull off. Most fundamentally, which future is to be proofed" Is future proofing a mere hedging of bets, or one of the few ways to guarantee success in a constantly changing world" What is to be done when we lack certainty about the future" Because of climate change, the hypotheticals multiplied by hypotheses that are inevitable components of future proofing will become ever more important, particularly in large public constructions. Calgary?s near-downtown East Village is home to Canada?s largest and most intriguing investigation of future proofing to date. Designed by Winnipeg?s 5468796 in collaboration with Kasian, this huge above-grade parking garage with room for 509 cars is conceived for a time?thought not-too-distant?when there will be diminished need (or no need at all) for its trays of automobile storage. This is a major public building with its own transformation built into every detail, a bulbous chrysalis containing the DNA of a lyrical butterfly that all hope will one day flutter out over the good green world.
Locat...