Blimp-like helium parking lot concept is simply awesome

When it comes to futuristic transport and architecture, we often see concepts depicting automated public-use pods running on circuits, flying cars and vertical buildings that try to maximize space in a world bursting at the seams trying to contain the human population. While many of these ideas are novel and practicable, few designers and innovators have thought of designing ways to make old and historic cities and structure a part of this futuristic world. German designer Nikolay Kolev, however, has had a rather novel idea, which if applied with the correct technology, could be a realistic way to save and maximize urban space. It may look like a blimp and may work like one too, but the concept has an unthought-of merit that simply floors us with its genius.

Helium Parking Concept

The idea behind the concept is simple: cities are short on space and people are addicted to personal transportation. So instead of asking people to change their lifestyle - which history has it, is easier said than done and frankly too utopian to ever be practical- we should simply try to make more room for them to park their vehicles. Since the multi-storey parking lot has already been done before and has been proven to be a rather costly way of saving urban space, it makes a whole lot of sense to have a way in which public agencies do not have to erect new building to handle urban parking woes.

The proposal helium-parking concept, however, simply consists of a number of foldable and inflatable structures that can be filled with helium to contain and lift cars and other vehicles up in the air and be navigated upwards and arranged in different schemes to save ground space. An autonomous hydrogen propulsion system can steer individual parking blimps into allotted space along the outer walls of existing buildings or they can fitted with hooks, lifted by elevators and tucked into place along a specially created vertical parking pole.

Since 2.5kg of helium costs approximately $3, filling one blimp will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $500, which is not exactly cheap, but it beats the per-square-foot price that urban land costs. The solar and wind powered parking lot would also be sustainable and planet-friendly so it could be a win-win for all.

[Cheers Nikolay]