20 Garage Designs That are Also Ingenious Feats of Architecture

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You might be surprised just how beautiful or interesting the building you park your car in actually is, or not as the case may be. With that in mind here is our list of 20 interesting garage designs. This list ranges from single-car domestic garages to multi-story parking lots.

1. Cardok garage

We'll kick off our list of 20 interesting garage designs with this fantastic idea. With the touch of an electronic key fob, you can safely stow your car out of sight. We'd be interested to know quite how you'd declare this one your car insurance? Is there an underground option?

2. Autostadt Car Towers, Germany

Sometimes referred to as a VW vending machine, the Autostadt Car Towers in Germany are some of the most impressive and interesting garage designs of all time.

3. Car Park One, Oklahoma City

Located in Oklahoma City and designed by Elliott and Associates Architects, this stainless-steel wire mesh structure is a fine example of interesting garage designs. 

4. 111 Lincoln Road Parking Space, Miami

From the creators of the Bird's Nest Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, this stylish and interesting garage design is something to behold. 

5. Herma Parking Building, South Korea

The Herma Parking Building in South Korea looks like it has come from distant future. Designed by JOHO Architecture this building has become a landmark in Seoul. This garage consumed over 600 polycarbonate and 900 stainless steel panels in its construction.

6. Greenway Self Park, Chicago

From the outside Greenway might look like any other parking garage but you'd be wrong. Greenway taps into the unlimited wind energy from the 'Windy City' by integrating spiral turbines throughout its structure.

7. Veranda Car Park, Rotterdam

The Veranda Car Park, designed by Paul de Ruiter, is a stunning and sleek structure built from aluminum and glass. Its rounded edges are both stylish and futuristic in equal measures. You can find this parking garage on the very busy Veranda strip close to the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam.

8. Civic Center Parking Garage, Santa Monica

Over to California now with the Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Garage. This one is interesting in the fact that it is this the world's first LEED-certified parking garage. This was in no small part accomplished by its clever use of LED lighting, reliance on clean energy and 14 parking spots reserved for electric vehicles.

9. Eureka Car Park, Melbourne

Getting lost in car parks and garages are half the fun of using them. We all love spending hours of our lives trying to the find the exit, don't we? The Eureka Car Park in Melbourne hopes to save you some confusion with its out of the box internal painting designs.

10. Marina City, Chicago

Back to Chicago with another of its prominent skyline buildings. Built-in 1964 and designed by Bertrand Goldberg, the twin towers of Marina City were well ahead of their time. 

11. Kansas City Public Library

In an attempt to promote the good old fashioned book, Kansas City Public Library decided to decorate the outside of their parking garage in a unique way. The outside has been adorned with giant book spines representing 22 classic titles from 'The Lord of the Rings' to 'A Tale of Two Cities'. 

12. Parkhaus Engelenschanze, Germany

This interesting garage design can be found in the little German city of Munster. Despite the stunning glass and steel design, you are also greeted with a tranquil pond and waterfall on your drive to your parking spot.

13. Cordova Parkade, Vancouver

Costing around $28 million to renovate this old department store parking garage was inspired by turn-of-the-century train stations. Its design helps it blend in with the city's historic architecture.

14. 'Ferris Wheel' Car Parking, Tokyo

Space is at a premium in Tokyo and so their solution to space hungry car parks is to store cars vertically. It works just like a Ferris wheel where you drive your car into the bottom ramp and it is hoisted away to be stored. Ingenious.

15. Floating Car Park, Umihotaru

Let's stay in Tokyo for a little longer with another example of interesting garage designs. Built on an artificial island, Umihotaru (Sea Firefly) has become a tourist attraction. 

16. KRE House, Tokyo

We are still not quite done with Tokyo. Designed by Japanese architect Takuya Tsuchida this nine-car garage features a mechanical platform for the homeowner to stitch between their expensive sports cars on demand. 

17. Robotic Parking, Dubai

Currently the world's largest robotic parking garage, this one can park 250 cars an hour. The entire structure can accommodate 765 vehicles at one time and its robotic automation ensures they are all parked as efficiently as possible.

18. Rheinauhafen Parking Tunnel, Cologne

Opened in 2003 this parking tunnel is nearly 2.5 miles in length and has only three entrances. It took engineers 15 months to complete and is Europe's longest underground parking space.

19. Parc des Celestins, Lyon

This one is particularly mesmerizing. It is a seven-story cylinder car park with a hollow middle and angled rotating mirror forming a focal point. Sunlight enters the hollow middle from the outside helping to disperse light throughout the car park.

20. Michigan Theatre Car Park, Michigan

Built inside the hollowed out shell of the Michigan Theatre, this car park is probably one of the most beautiful on our list. Originally scheduled for demolition, it was later found that this would destabilize neighboring buildings. Instead, it was renovated to be used as a rather stylish car park indeed.

So there you go. Our list of 20 interesting garage designs. Have we missed any great ones? Feel free to add your suggestions below.