The monolithic parking block colossi from the nineteen-sixties and seventies still dominate the appearance of many inner cities at home and abroad today. However, in contemporary urban planning, the predominant paradigms are not longer the segregation of usages and the car-friendly city, but the notion of a densely inhabited and vibrant city center that is characterized by small-scale usages. From an economic point of view, single- function parking blocks are also questionable in view of the ever increasing price of land.

This book, which is targeted towards architects and engineers, as well as politicians, investors, and operators, is intended to spark discussion and to show by means of surprising designs what potential these parking blocks harbour. How can such functional buildings be integrated better into their surroundings? What alternatives or complementary usages are conceivable? How can empty roof surfaces be used meaningfully? The presentations are supplemented by contributions from the point of view of the real estate industry, engineering technology, and cultural science