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

Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015

Prefab saves the day for Denver hospital

Mortenson Construction and its partners completed the 831,000-sf, $623 million Saint Joseph Hospital well before the January 1, 2015, deadline, thanks largely to their extensive use of offsite prefabrication.

Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015

Anaheim’s soaring intermodal hub

Anaheim's Regional Transportations Intermodal Center is the largest ETFE project in North America.

Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015

Virtual collaboration helps complete a hospital in 24 months

PinnacleHealth needed a new hospital STAT! This team delivered it in two years, start to finish.

Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015

New arts venue reinvigorates Virginia Tech's campus

The STV-led Building Team creates a world-class performance and arts venue with learning and entrepreneurial dimensions.

BIM and Information Technology | Apr 9, 2015

A carboard box by Google can bring virtual reality to architecture

The global search engine giant has launched a new product, Google Cardboard, that easily allows users to experience virtual reality.

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

Multifaced fitness center becomes campus landmark

A sloped running track and open-concept design put this Building Team to the test. 

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

Nation's first LEED-certified bus depot

A bus garage in Harlem shows that even the most mundane of facilities can strut its environmentally sensitive stuff.

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

Setting the bar for port-of-entry design

Whenever you eat a tomato from Mexico, there’s a one-in-three chance it came through this LEED Gold gateway.

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

Big D’s billion-dollar baby: New Parkland Hospital Tops the Chart | BD+C

Dallas’s new $1.27 billion public hospital preserves an important civic anchor, Texas-style.

Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015

IPD-driven fusion facility serves science and student life in Chicago

In dire need of modern science labs and a student union, North Park University built both—in the same building.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




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