Bulgarian City Market Competition
Market in the Park
This project is a submittal in an international competition for a new central market in the second largest city of Bulgaria. The city wanted a new market on a dilapidated triangular city lot that we felt currently buffered the city from its park. Our proposal was to extend the central park to the city, and design a market that felt like it was part of the park AND the city. The proposals were asked to be affordable and feasible. While we didn’t win, the jury praised our proposal: “The concept of a ‘Market in the park’ delicately balances nature and human activity, with the canopy adding a protective feel. It presents a clear architectural statement.”
Aerial view of market with its transparent canopy. A light translucent structure in the edge of our expanded park.
Aerial view of market with its transparent canopy removed. The reading is one of the park coming into and through the market.
View of the existing market- a dilapidated series of informal stalls in a space that is neither part of the city nor of the park. The avenue on the right doesn’t feel like a beautiful or important part of the city. Our desire was to use the opportunity of a new public market to make a better edge to the street while simultaneously bringing the park though to the street- a more dignified and beautiful edge.
The existing market is a dilapidated series of urban structures that separates the Main Street and urban core with the park on the other side. Our strategy was to bring the park to the main avenue so that the urban core is bracketed on both sides by parks. The market, in this way, is designed to be a light and transparent pavilion as part of the park. There are common areas for sitting and eating which blur the boundaries between market pavilion and park.
The site plan of the market shows a series of pavilions which house program that needs to be interior and secure in off-hours, like restaurants or small-scale shops. The rest of the stalls are arranged within a grid of columns that support the canopy. The paving of the park is brought through the market, and we have retained as many of the existing trees as possible.
Construction diagram of canopy, using mostly pre-fabricated timber elements: a grid of columns supports a timber canopy. A translucent PVC membrane sits on top of the timber roof grid.
The section of the market from the city to the park on the other side. The park is brought through the market to the city. The market itself is open-aired and light filled, more like a protected exterior space that creates a calm and natural place for residents to not just shop, but walk through to the park, or hang out and gather like an outdoor living room.
View of the edge of the market meeting the existing park.
View from the park into the market. The tree canopies continue through the market to the other side, and the tree trunks and columns together create a field of vertical elements in a field.
View within the market showing the forest of columns, the timber grid canopy and the translucent PVC roof membrane. The stalls are simple and inexpensive, made from corrugated feed bins as a a base, and wood sheets for the top.
View of the corner of the market at one of the entrances from a major plaza. The flower stalls have been pulled out of the market and sit along the periphery as a welcoming zone between city and market.
Evening view of the market showing the toplit PVC canopy.
View from one of the downtown perpendicular streets that lead directly to the market. Two of the solid pavilions frame an entry to the market on this street axis. In this way we hope to further the sense of connections between city and market, and further to the park itself.
View of a corner of the market in the park, showing some of the common areas that surround the market, whether formal places for sitting (tables and chairs), or grassy areas for more casual gathering.
The side of the market that is most urban, adjacent to a street intersection. More flower stalls are on the plaza adjacent to the intersection (seen here just beyond the market), and more common areas that blur boundaries between market and park on the side seen on the right.