Encants Market
Barcelona ES
b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos
2013
Type
commercial
Tags
public spaces, civic spaces, spaces of encounter, Spain ccc
Visitability
Allowed
Description
Barcelona’s new market, Mercat dels Encants, is designed as a mediation device between the renovation of the plaza de las Glorias square and the Meridiana axis, an area commonly known as the Bosquet de les Glòries. The proposal suggested a continuous platform (or commercial square) on various levels as an ideal ground surface for all the market activities. By folding the platform, the different levels of the street are catered for. Hence the market can be seen as a large covered square, capable of instilling activity in all sections. The roof, an important element for urban identity, shelters shops and stalls while creating a reflective mechanism of the city towards the interior of the market. Each structural unit was to have a different slant to reflect the light, atmosphere and landscape. (Description provided by the architects)