Roofs of Trade: A Look at 12 Public Market Architectures

Public Markets are complex cases that beautifully combine an engineering exploration with the instigation of a beneficial public function. In fact, it doesn’t take much to designate an open and accessible commercial hub that would encourage commercial exchange and economic development for small or local businesses. All one needs is a lot and a sheltering roof. However, many designers and architects have chosen to take this exercise beyond the social level and into further material and technical exploration.

As in many cases, the public market’s ground space is purposefully left unpartitioned and vast for flexible use and organic segmentation. The floor belongs to the merchants that occupy it differently. This requires the designers to address the structural challenge of ensuring wide areas between the columns. Many have taken this opportunity to develop vaulted wooden roofs, brick roofs that act as light tunnels, or even some that might suggest optimal circulation within a city or town.

Read more via Archdaily.com