Carsten Meier. Public Parking

Parking lots, multi-story parking garages, underground parking: their only use is the temporary "stowing away" of our mobility. As everyday spaces they consist of architectural modules that have the same appearance the world over. On account of their simplicity and obviousness, we normally take such places for granted. Nevertheless, they shape our urban surroundings and are part of an ever-present architecture in this age of globalization. The photographer Carsten Meier presents views from the tops of parking garages; beyond the railing the city seems to sprout from a void below. It shows the empty parking lots of recently closed or just-built shopping centers, and it depicts truly virtual locations with such convincing reality as to arouse a strong suspicion of manipulation. This feeling not only spills over into the entire publication; it is also carried by the reader into his own reality.