Melbourne considers the future potential of high-rise parking areas as urban farms

2023-08-17T12:17:00-04:00

Urban farms and communal spaces are among the ideas for repurposing car park floors in Melbourne’s skyscrapers in the future, when it is predicted that residents will rely more on driverless and shared electric cars. The architects of Melbourne’s tallest building, Australia 108, have created designs envisioning the transformation of the building’s 10 levels of car parking into space for a vertical farm, beehives, water collection and storage, pet care, podcast studios, co-working and education.

Downtown Melbourne's potential future scenario of widely-available self-driving cars has developers rethinking millions of square feet worth of parking garages, and vertical farms are seen as a solution (along with housing, retail, and dining options). An amendment to its planning rules that would require new parking structure designs to include their retrofitting consideration has been proposed that would add an extra layer to the pedestrian-friendly ambit that mirrors policies in Oslo, Barcelona, and other global cities.

According to The Age, a 2019 City Council survey suggests an overwhelming majority (95%) of Melbourne residents support the idea of reducing vehicle traffic in Southbank by 2030.

Construction Update: AIM has completed its transformation of Shanghai's Kailong Jiajie Plaza

2021-08-30T14:41:00-04:00

A startling transformation of a former Shanghai shopping mall expected to pump new life into a centuries-old district that has played a seminal role in the history and development of the city is ready to be unveiled thanks to the work of one local firm.

AIM Architecture has completed work on its transformed Kailong Jiajie Plaza in Shanghai’s storied Hongkou district into a sustainable vision of vertical public space, partly inspired by the terraced mountain landscapes of rural China. The revamp will activate the disused structure as it refreshes the area with greenery and brightness benefitting both city and community as the building itself transitions into the 21st century.

Image courtesy Dirk Weiblen/AIM Architecture

Per the architect: “With this project, we look at regeneration with fresh eyes. We open up the building, not only on the façade but also at its heart, the interior courtyard. We enhance the district’s vibrancy, create a stronger connection to the community, and discov...

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Melbourne considers the future potential of high-rise parking areas as urban farms

Construction Update: AIM has completed its transformation of Shanghai's Kailong Jiajie Plaza