The Art of the Car Park
Wellbeck Street, London
Photographer Agnese Sanvito sees art where other see utility. Her stunning shots of car parks in London and Vienna have been driven by a desire to preserve these buildings as they become more scarce. Take a Detour to them while you still can.
“When I began, many sites in London were under threat of being demolished due to the increasing land values (in fact, a few have been demolished since),” says Agnese. “So my first intention was to document them before they disappeared. Then my focus shifted to a deeper interest in multi-storey car parks, both old and new.”
But what does Agnese find so fascinating about these structures?
“I’ve always been interested in finding beauty in the overlooked, and in places that can easily pass unnoticed. And car parks – with their rawness and simplicity – fit that category. Despite their monolithic structure we often overlook them,” she says.
“In the UK there was a proliferation of brutalist car parks built during the post-war period. Wellbeck Street was a hidden gem away from the chaos of Oxford Street. The geometrical repetition of the concrete ‘V’ shape made the building very sculptural – it wasn’t just for lovers of brutalism. It’s a shame it couldn’t have been given a new life while maintaining its original features.”
Peckham, London
Thankfully not every photograph tells a tale of imminent destruction. “I like the car park in Peckham, south London: the pattern of different materials on the rear side makes it quite abstract,” says Agnese. “It was saved from demolition and repurposed into a workspace with the successful Bold Tendencies exhibition and Frank’s Campari bar on the rooftop. A nice story.”
Words Anthony Teasdale Twitter | Instagram
Photography Agnese Sanvito Instagram
A version of this feature first appeared in Umbrella Magazine. Take a look, it’s splendid.
