The role of the car is diminishing year by year, heralding the obsolescence of multi-story car parks, those concrete structures that symbolise the gas-guzzling lifestyle promoted by the 20th-century city. The urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions in the building sector is confronting us with the future of these places. As the greenest materials are those already present, the most appropriate response is to convert rather than destroy. Preserving what already exists also means respecting a past that has contributed to the diversity of the Parisian landscape. The restoration of the Place Saint-George car park is intended as a place of transition between the 20th and 21st centuries. I propose to develop a critical programme for the urban society of the future within this concrete envelope.
