An Ordinary Parking Garage Turned Extraordinary

Who knew parking could be so fun? Or so “kaleidoscopy.” (Okay, we made that word up, but it seemed fitting). If we’d only known what the future of parking would hold we may not have endured such white-knuckled parallel parking snafus during Drivers Ed. The spectacular rainbow hued parking garage that you’re feasting your eyes on is the product of Craig Redman and Karl Maier, titled 72DP Mural Project. The dynamic duo is the brains behind Craig & Karl, a creative firm specializing in a genius array of colorful illustrations, installation, typography, editorial and pattern design.

Craig & Karl’s most recent project is this shockingly colorful mural-turned-underground-parking-garage in Sydney which took them three full weeks to paint. Their trademark eye-popping color occupies and award-winning residence and results in a dynamic mix of overlapping geometric forms that mirror and respond to the angularity of the architecture.

We caught up with Karl Maier to dig in a little deeper to the project. Maier explained that “In order to counteract the darkness of the space, we agreed at the outset that the colours would be quite vibrant. A lot of the hues are actually quite light as well, which—believe it or not—has quite a calming effect when you’re in the space.”

He also went on to say that the most challenging part of the project was “getting a sense of how the space would come together when it was finished; essentially translating something 2D into 3D.” Initially, he explained, “the artwork was more complicated and we soon realised it was going to be somewhat headache inducing. Even more so than it may be now!” We think they achieved their objective of breathing life into the space. How ‘bout you?

(Photography credit: Katherine Lu)