flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Ugly soviet parking garage takes on appearance of a cascading waterfall

Architects

Ugly soviet parking garage takes on appearance of a cascading waterfall

Architect Ignas Lukaskas worked in conjunction with Vieta and the Vilnius Street Art festival to transform the building.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | September 30, 2016

Photo courtesy of Studio Vieta

A Soviet-era parking garage in Lithuania that sits just a few dozen feet from the Neris River and has been described as an “eyesore,” has been transformed into a bright display of color and lights as part of the Vilnius Street Art Festival. Ignas Lukauskas, an architect whose PhD thesis was on urban landscapes and how art and architecture can create disruptions, created the new look for the building.

The Vilnius Waterfall, as the project has been dubbed, is based on this thesis. The photorealistic waterfall image was pasted onto more than 2,000 sm (making it the largest project like this ever executed in Lithuania) of the structure’s exterior surface and uses the building’s terraced look and its location near the Neris to further enhance the faux waterfall’s illusion.

The water appears to crash and cascade down the various terraces of the structure, which is currently used as a garage for storing and maintaining Parliament vehicles, on its way to the river. The stagnant appearance offered by the building’s former look is replaced with one that is dynamic and flowing.

The new façade is only temporary, but the goal is for it to bring a refreshing hint of the natural landscape to Lithuania’s capital city.

View more images of The Vilnius Waterfall here.

Related Stories

| Dec 16, 2013

Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, inaugurated 2014 AIA President

Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, executive director of the Virginia Center for Architecture, was inaugurated as the 90th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 12th at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.  She succeeds Mickey Jacob, FAIA, in representing nearly 83,000 AIA members.

| Dec 13, 2013

GRW acquires West Virginia design firm Chapman Technical Group

GRW is expanding its capabilities through the recent acquisition of Chapman Technical Group, a 36-person West Virginia-based firm.

| Dec 13, 2013

AIA, MIT issue joint report on impact of design on public health

The research looks at the health of eight U.S. cities and lays out a path for translating the research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners. 

| Dec 11, 2013

Wyndham unveils hotel prototype for its Hawthorn Suites chain

The extended-stay hotel prototype reduces development costs by 46% for franchisees and enhances the overall guest experience.

| Dec 10, 2013

16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors

From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.

| Dec 9, 2013

Tips for designing higher education's newest building type: the learning commons

In this era of scaled-down budgets, maximized efficiencies, new learning methods and social media’s domination of face time, college and university campuses are gravitating toward a new space type: the learning commons.

| Dec 9, 2013

Does technology help or hinder innovation?

Whether digital technology will help or hinder workplace insights remains a topic of ongoing debate. FastCo.Design features insights from business scholars on both sides of the issue.

| Dec 6, 2013

French concert hall includes integrated musical elements [VIDEO]

La Métaphone, a concert hall in Ognies, France, is a 1,980-sm facility with the unique characteristic of being a structural musical instrument. The solar-powered building incorporates musical elements in its walls, which can be played by musicians inside or outside the facility.

| Dec 6, 2013

Goettsch Partners selected 2013 AIA Chicago Firm of the Year

Architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) has been named the 2013 Firm of the Year, as conferred by the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Chicago). The award is the highest honor a firm can receive from the chapter.

| Dec 5, 2013

Maximizing the impact of online marketing

Because most professional services firms exist to help their clients reduce risk and navigate an uncertain future, they tend to approach the world of online or digital marketing with some caution. Here are four tips for maximizing the impact of online marketing.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021