The story of Garden Santa Fe starts with a parking lot. While not usually how a sustainable project initiates, the immense underground parking structure bottoms out at 33 meters beneath the street, placing the ubiquitous automobile where it belongs, well below human and natural habitation. Set above is a typical mall, only its three stories are also subterranean. Lastly, there is the park. It is modest in scope for an urban center but as the surrounding area has been swallowed whole by development, the vegetated refuge will become a core social asset.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/this-mexico-city-park-conceals-an-underground-mall/
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/this-mexico-city-park-conceals-an-underground-mall/