Robopark
Ryan Doone
2008
Asphalt Option Studio | Paula Meijerink | Harvard Graduate School of Design

Surface parking is cheap and easy to propagate and maintain. This fosters the idea that it is generally acceptable to disrupt urban fabrics and clear-cut forests with lifeless, mono-functional spaces. This project challenges this notion by replacing all surface parking with Roboparks, acting as infrastructure to support ecological functions. The inherent strength of the Robopark is that it is, at its most basic, a structural framework waiting to be pirated by the wildest ecological functions designers can think of. Together, they present new visions of what should be, rather than what is.

In three projects, each at a different scale and location, the Robopark is transformed from a lifeless steel skeleton into an ecological machine:

The Robopark at Harvard Square is a composting center for restaurant food waste.

The Robopark at the Institute of Contemporary Art is an urban squirrel nuthouse retreat, providing habitat for flora and fauna.

The Robopark at Gillette Stadium is a wind farm and community sports/recreation center.