“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot!”
With that line in the famous 1970 hit song “Big Yellow Taxi”, Joni Mitchel expressed the outrage of an entire generation over the ruination of the urban landscape.
Cars, roads and parking garages………ugh! But is there hope? Is there a better way? Maybe…just maybe. I invite you to have a look at an architectural wonder that I discovered on my way back from the start-up convention “Bits and Pretzels” which I attended last month! (By the way I proudly wore a Steemit polo shirt which was gifted to me by @onceuponatime for the entire 3 days. And yes, I did change it…..he gave me more than one!)
Would You Dare Ruin This Beautiful Landscape With a Parking Garage?
Looking down at the town as we hiked up to the castle
Badenweiler is a gorgeous town which lies at the western edge of the Black Forest in the southern part of Germany. It boasts glorious thermal baths and pools which were originally built by the Romans in 145 AD! Although it has a permanent population of only about 600, thousands of tourists visit it on an annual basis.
Would you even think of ruining the beauty of this ancient town by building a parking garage? The ingenious lovers of all things beautiful in Badenweiler found a way to get their cake and eat it too!
A view from the castle which was built partly from the ruins of the old Roman Spa
My son and I visited the partially reconstructed ancient Roman Spa which lies right in the heart of the old town!
Are you Ready...........?
The Picture You Are Looking at Below is a Parking Garage!
Notice the skylights on the sloping lawn? They provide natural lighting to the parking garage below.
This is the emergency exit out of the garage.
Is it Hard to Believe That This is a Parking Garage?
Here’s a Picture of What’s Under That Landscaped Hill!
Pretty impressive isn’t it? Several of the parking spaces even have power for electric cars!
This is the main pedestrian entrance and exit to the garage. The designers and engineers got this one right!
Here’s a picture of the where the cars enter and exit!
So fellow Steemers what do You Think? Can a Parking Garage be Beautiful? In my opinion, in this case at least, it’s a resounding YES!
I look forward to your comments and experiences.
Here are a few of my other posts about parking and road problems:
The Old Dog Asks: Car Wars……….. Can The Battle be Won?
The Old Dog Investigates: Roads, is There a Better Way?
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
