a city of mirrors

In the public eye, the success of architects is inextricably connected to the scale and number of buildings they have erected. Monumental architectures are the most obvious kind of legacy. However, in the fight against climate change and ecological devastation, theoretical plans for the future have often contributed more than immediately attainable ones. Paolo Soleri’s 1969 book, “Arcology: The City in the Image of Man”  is filled with incredibly complex plans for buildings that were never built. Despite this, Soleri significantly contributed to the world of climate change design by expanding the public consciousness, demonstrating the importance of architectural storytelling when advocating for a greener future. Climate change media is often judged by its relevance to the modern day. Yet, the transformative societal shifts that must happen in order to prevent climate disaster necessitate a lack of “practicality” when imagining climate solutions. Solari himself saw only one path to

    Downtown Houston in the 70s           In the average American city’s downtown, more than a fifth of total land is used solely for parking . In the most extreme cases, in places like Arlington, Texas, parking takes up almost half of the city’s area . By contrast, Central Park occupies only six percent of Manhattan’s land area . Despite these staggering numbers, forces both commercial and governmental have been constantly pushing developers to free up space for even more parking. Recently, however, several factors such the death of malls and the shift to online work have left many parking garage floors eerily quiet.  This is, primarily, a design issue. Our current parking systems are wildly inefficient and wasteful. A recent study showed that eight car spaces exist for every car in the United States. This is partially because developers tend to plan parking lots with more spaces than can usually be filled. Mall garages are designed to accommodate visitors at peak commerce times, mean