In 2010-2011 we’ve been dealing with mercati[S]coperti, possible design solutions to update  big market structures that sometimes are not matching anymor actual way of leaving.

We’ve been working in Milano with very interesting results and in the last few month we’ve been collecting few case studies of similar intervention around the world.

Barcelona, where everybody knows the lively Boqueria, is particularly devoted to the refurbishment of old markets; in 2005 Mercat Santa Caterina was completed by the italo spanish studio EMBT. At the end of the Passeig del Born is the Mercat del Born, the city’s wholesale market until 1973; the building has been  abandoned for over 3 decades and will now be refurbished to host a  library and a cultural center, even if the works are very slow because the remains of entire streets and homes from Phillipe V’s were discovered underneath. El Ninot market, dated 1894 by architects Antoni de Falguera and Joaquim Vilaseca, is currently under construction with a project that aims to maintain the existing facility while equipping it with contemporary services. The Barceloneta Market, built in the late 19th century by architect Rovira i Trias, has been rehabilitated after several years of decay.

But also a small covered market in Donji Milanovac (Serbia), the glamorous Schrannenhalle in Munich with a  mixture of retail business and gastronomy, the Marché en fer,  seriously damaged by the earthquake in Haiti and restored to its previous fizziness, Addiction Aquatic Development in Taipei where you can have dinner in a old fish market transformed in a sophisticated sushi and Japanese grill restaurant +delicatessen shop + fast food in a marketplace atmosphere.

All these experiences testify the importance of the rethinking + refurbish of these structures, central both for historical, social and commercial opportunities.

Mercat Santa Caterina @ Francesca Murialdo

Mercat del Born @ Francesca Murialdo