ZipCar Dispenser in Boston?

[statler]

Wouldn't this be nice?

Moskow Linn Architects

Zipcar Dispenser
Boston, New York, and
Washington DC
The prototype parking structure modeled on a giant PEZ dispenser doles out cars in lieu of candy. The tower will maximize Zipcar's presence in the city, providing a recognizable corporate symbol for the emerging car company in underutilized residual urban spaces. Winner of the BSA's Unbuilt Architecture Award.

Link

 

[Ron Newman]

Cool -- a parking garage that might actually enhance the surrounding urban environment.

 

[Lrfox]

Any idea on how close to becoming a reality this is? It seems like a distant dream, though it would be nice.

 

[briv]

I'd love to see these start popping up around here.

There are precedents for these sorts of things in Europe. When you buy a Smart Car from some dealers it is dispensed from a giant gumball machine-like container.

Volkswagon uses something similar at their Autostadt, only theirs is over 20-stories high.

 

[Ron Newman]

The Zipcar thing assumes that all the stacked Zipcars are "the same", so the renter won't care which one pops out for her. Also, how do returned cars get from the street to the top of the stack?

 

[Waldorf]

The Zipcar thing assumes that all the stacked Zipcars are "the same", so the renter won't care which one pops out for her. Also, how do returned cars get from the street to the top of the stack?

Not necessarily. I think each car can be lowered and raised in any order.

 

[statler]

^^ So, it like a ferris wheel? Is that lot deep enough?

I'm not seeing it.

Unless it extends underground. That would make sense.

 

[briv]

It looks like it would work exactly like the Autostadt example above, only it would be one single column of cars rather than a cylinder.

 

[Lurker]

Moskow is great generator paper architecture, he rarely builds anything, and for his clients' sake that's actually a GOOD THING.

This proposal is an affront to the SRC Insurance Exchange Building across the street, which unfortunately had it's entries defaced this year for generic modernized garbage.

 

[statler]

^^ Not to bust out the ol' AB cliche...but it's a lot better than the parking lot that is currently wasting space there.

 

[Pierce]

Interesting to note that the rendering is on Broad Street looking back from Milk Street... Is this an actual commission that a client and/or Zipcar asked for? Or just a good idea that is floating?

 

[bbfen]

Interesting to note that the rendering is on Broad Street looking back from Milk Street... Is this an actual commission that a client and/or Zipcar asked for? Or just a good idea that is floating?

I have no earthly idea.

That said, my employer has had a business relationship with Zipcar from their start in Boston, and they're extremely proactive in finding creative ways to partner with local business, municipalities, etc. to promote the use of car-sharing.

Great company, in my opinion. If they've floated this idea, I'm betting they're very serious about installing it somewhere (even if doesn't end up being in uptight Boston).

EDIT: to add "somewhere" in last graf

 

[Lurker]

Moskow's office is located on Broad Street. Many of their paper proposals have been located in and around the area. It's an attempt to generate publicity in Architecture Boston and other publications.