this is a parking garage??

Normally, the architecture of parking structures doesn't really stand out.  However, in the past few weeks, i've seen a couple of garages that are really stunning.  The first one I just happened upon while riding my Deco-Bike from south beach into downtown Miami, on the beautiful Venetian Causeway.

I knew I'd seen a photo in one of the architectural journals, but when I got back, i looked up the project, and saw that it was actually designed by the Viennese firm of Herzog and deMeuron, who had also done the DeYoung art museum in SF.

It is an amazing structure, and I planted the bike by the stairway, and explored all of it's different levels. I was surprised to find a trendy clothing shop on the 5th floor, and there's a nightclub called Babalu on the 8th.  Reading the articles about it, i also learned that locals are renting out the 7th floor, which is a double height space with views out over all of Miami Beach and the Atlantic, for their weddings and receptions.  How cool and unexpected is that!

The second is in San Francisco, part of the new UCSF Mission Bay Campus.  This recently opened garage was designed by the SF firm of WRNS Studio, and really stands out.  The angled recesses change with the angle of the sun, creating a very dynamic facade, and the building fits in will with the other new labs, hospitals, clinics, and dormitories that surround it.