<p>Can parking lots be a site for arts and culture? A new magazine featuring two public parking spaces in Bengaluru explores the idea.</p>.<p>‘(Our) Parking Magazine’ is an annual publication dedicated to urban parking. The first edition is titled ‘Namma Parking’ — it focuses on BBMP parking lots<br />in K R Market, and J C Road.</p>.<p>This is a project by 23-year-old Radha R H, based in Bengaluru. She has studied public space design and works as a product designer.</p>.<p>Fewer than 100 have sold since the inaugural edition dropped in December. But the feedback from buyers — architects, urban planners and long-time Bengalureans — has been better as they wanted to know she could generate so much content on parking, an unlikely subject.</p>.<p>In the 44-pager, Radha asks if public parking spaces can serve as venues for events (related to music, art or food) during non-peak hours. This may make them a safer and more lively place to access like metro stations. Currently, their male-dominated vibe is “slightly exclusionary”.</p>.<p>“Please don’t stay back here after the sunset,” a shopkeeper around the K R Market parking lot advised Radha during her recce.</p>.<p>“He was concerned about my safety but I felt that was because I looked ‘different’ from the women vendors who use the parking lot as late as 10 pm,” she says.</p>.<p>Radha admits her first visit to the K R Market parking lot made her uneasy. “It was flooded, it had cobwebs… But the more I visited, I grew familiar with the place. Parking attendants would share chai with me,” she recalls.</p>.<p>Parking lots are a den of stories, she would soon discover. “A man told me he once saw a blinding light at the J C Road parking lot. He was so shocked that he was bedridden for two months. I don’t know if it is true,” she laughs.</p>.<p>Elderly men meet friends here, children play cricket, cleaners eat lunch, vendors load and unload their wares, she saw. She also heard upset accounts about the lack of safe parking.</p>.<p>Other articles feature ‘No parking signs’ around Bengaluru, Google reviews of these parking lots, an explainer of Bengaluru’s parking policy, a review of ‘Rethinking A Lot’, a book on the design and culture of parking, and guest perspectives on the issue.</p>.<p>“Only when you know what your parking spaces are like can you begin to imagine what they could become,” she says.</p>.<p>“These parking lots, I gather, are run by families. While I think it (the model) brings ownership and facilitates smooth functioning, a fear of monopolising the space is also there,” she illustrates.</p>.<p><span class="italic">To contribute to the magazine or order a copy (Rs 300), visit ourparking.net</span></p>
<p>Can parking lots be a site for arts and culture? A new magazine featuring two public parking spaces in Bengaluru explores the idea.</p>.<p>‘(Our) Parking Magazine’ is an annual publication dedicated to urban parking. The first edition is titled ‘Namma Parking’ — it focuses on BBMP parking lots<br />in K R Market, and J C Road.</p>.<p>This is a project by 23-year-old Radha R H, based in Bengaluru. She has studied public space design and works as a product designer.</p>.<p>Fewer than 100 have sold since the inaugural edition dropped in December. But the feedback from buyers — architects, urban planners and long-time Bengalureans — has been better as they wanted to know she could generate so much content on parking, an unlikely subject.</p>.<p>In the 44-pager, Radha asks if public parking spaces can serve as venues for events (related to music, art or food) during non-peak hours. This may make them a safer and more lively place to access like metro stations. Currently, their male-dominated vibe is “slightly exclusionary”.</p>.<p>“Please don’t stay back here after the sunset,” a shopkeeper around the K R Market parking lot advised Radha during her recce.</p>.<p>“He was concerned about my safety but I felt that was because I looked ‘different’ from the women vendors who use the parking lot as late as 10 pm,” she says.</p>.<p>Radha admits her first visit to the K R Market parking lot made her uneasy. “It was flooded, it had cobwebs… But the more I visited, I grew familiar with the place. Parking attendants would share chai with me,” she recalls.</p>.<p>Parking lots are a den of stories, she would soon discover. “A man told me he once saw a blinding light at the J C Road parking lot. He was so shocked that he was bedridden for two months. I don’t know if it is true,” she laughs.</p>.<p>Elderly men meet friends here, children play cricket, cleaners eat lunch, vendors load and unload their wares, she saw. She also heard upset accounts about the lack of safe parking.</p>.<p>Other articles feature ‘No parking signs’ around Bengaluru, Google reviews of these parking lots, an explainer of Bengaluru’s parking policy, a review of ‘Rethinking A Lot’, a book on the design and culture of parking, and guest perspectives on the issue.</p>.<p>“Only when you know what your parking spaces are like can you begin to imagine what they could become,” she says.</p>.<p>“These parking lots, I gather, are run by families. While I think it (the model) brings ownership and facilitates smooth functioning, a fear of monopolising the space is also there,” she illustrates.</p>.<p><span class="italic">To contribute to the magazine or order a copy (Rs 300), visit ourparking.net</span></p>