Facades of Invention

A massive existing parking garage, with the footprint the size of over four soccer fields, requires an exterior redesign. The current east facade, 1,000 feet in length and four stories in height, faces a major freeway with a dismal utilitarian character. Poon Design explored half a dozen design strategies to provide this enormous concrete structure with a personality of invention and interest.

One scheme studies the visual qualities of a translucent wedding veil, but doing so with a static material. Large panels of steel are water-jet-cut to deliver a look of motion, like a silk veil blowing in the wind, and also provide an abundance of light into the parking garage. Another scheme explored kinetic architecture, with 30 foot tall metal fins moving and changing colors, reflecting the motion of the cars within. The sculptural composition of organ pipes inspired a third scheme, and the combined themes of fabric sails and reptilian scales informed a fourth scheme.

Facades of Invention

A massive existing parking garage, with the footprint the size of over four soccer fields, requires an exterior redesign. The current east facade, 1,000 feet in length and four stories in height, faces a major freeway with a dismal utilitarian character. Poon Design explored half a dozen design strategies to provide this enormous concrete structure with a personality of invention and interest.

One scheme studies the visual qualities of a translucent wedding veil, but doing so with a static material. Large panels of steel are water-jet-cut to deliver a look of motion, like a silk veil blowing in the wind, and also provide an abundance of light into the parking garage. Another scheme explored kinetic architecture, with 30 foot tall metal fins moving and changing colors, reflecting the motion of the cars within. The sculptural composition of organ pipes inspired a third scheme, and the combined themes of fabric sails and reptilian scales informed a fourth scheme.

Facades of Invention

A massive existing parking garage, with the footprint the size of over four soccer fields, requires an exterior redesign. The current east facade, 1,000 feet in length and four stories in height, faces a major freeway with a dismal utilitarian character. Poon Design explored half a dozen design strategies to provide this enormous concrete structure with a personality of invention and interest.

One scheme studies the visual qualities of a translucent wedding veil, but doing so with a static material. Large panels of steel are water-jet-cut to deliver a look of motion, like a silk veil blowing in the wind, and also provide an abundance of light into the parking garage. Another scheme explored kinetic architecture, with 30 foot tall metal fins moving and changing colors, reflecting the motion of the cars within. The sculptural composition of organ pipes inspired a third scheme, and the combined themes of fabric sails and reptilian scales informed a fourth scheme.

Facades of Invention

A massive existing parking garage, with the footprint the size of over four soccer fields, requires an exterior redesign. The current east facade, 1,000 feet in length and four stories in height, faces a major freeway with a dismal utilitarian character. Poon Design explored half a dozen design strategies to provide this enormous concrete structure with a personality of invention and interest.

One scheme studies the visual qualities of a translucent wedding veil, but doing so with a static material. Large panels of steel are water-jet-cut to deliver a look of motion, like a silk veil blowing in the wind, and also provide an abundance of light into the parking garage. Another scheme explored kinetic architecture, with 30 foot tall metal fins moving and changing colors, reflecting the motion of the cars within. The sculptural composition of organ pipes inspired a third scheme, and the combined themes of fabric sails and reptilian scales informed a fourth scheme.

Facades of Invention

A massive existing parking garage, with the footprint the size of over four soccer fields, requires an exterior redesign. The current east facade, 1,000 feet in length and four stories in height, faces a major freeway with a dismal utilitarian character. Poon Design explored half a dozen design strategies to provide this enormous concrete structure with a personality of invention and interest.

One scheme studies the visual qualities of a translucent wedding veil, but doing so with a static material. Large panels of steel are water-jet-cut to deliver a look of motion, like a silk veil blowing in the wind, and also provide an abundance of light into the parking garage. Another scheme explored kinetic architecture, with 30 foot tall metal fins moving and changing colors, reflecting the motion of the cars within. The sculptural composition of organ pipes inspired a third scheme, and the combined themes of fabric sails and reptilian scales informed a fourth scheme.