PUBLIC DESIGN COMPETITION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OLIVAIS MARKET PROJECT – CELL B, 2024

Starting from the ground-level continuity that exists in the Olivais neighbourhood, inspired by the Athens Charter, the primary objective is for this public building to be permeable to pedestrian circulation, integrating itself into the neighbourhood’s urban space. Within the surrounding built environment, particular importance is given to the crossing of the market, as a way of connecting to the existing commercial arcades and to the accesses at the upper level. This permeability enhances the neighbourhood’s economic, social and cultural life, with the market acting as a central element that distributes flows to the surrounding spaces.

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The chosen approach to create permeability was to place the more private functions inside independent volumes of varying dimensions, between which public areas are developed, creating a system in which voids become a key element. The variation of spaces between volumes generates tensions and expansions depending on their respective functions. In continuity with the surrounding public space, circulation areas emerge between the built forms, as well as the fresh produce market itself and a large covered public square, intended for activities, social interaction and rest, establishing a clear visual and pedestrian connection between the Avenue and the small square.

From the reading of the programme in articulation with the conceptual basis of the proposal, the functions were organised within the volumes, with particular attention to their placement within the overall composition, in order to meet functional requirements. Circulation areas with two gates, one internal and one external, respond to the need for independent external access to certain compartments and allow for the possibility of operating different areas at different times: delivery, fresh market, shops and events.

In Chillida’s work we find a representation of the underlying idea behind the organisation of the market: the ground plane is continuous and independent of the volumes. The volumes are arranged according to an orthogonal grid that contrasts with the organic paths of people moving between them, literally recalling Jan Gehl’s concept of urban life as “life between buildings”. In Rachel Whiteread’s work, through mould-making, the void of objects gains significance: filled with an organic, coloured and living mass. The differentiation between materials, colours and transparency observed in her work helps to read the proposal for the roof structure.

A more transparent volume is superimposed onto the solid structures connected to the ground, lightening the loads to be supported. The roof detaches from the limits of the volumes beneath it and defines the perimeter of the market, without being enclosed by walls. Drawing from the traditional image of a market, a large shared roof is proposed, bringing together functions, volumes and people. Its visibility from various elevated points suggested that the roof, beyond its technical and solar-harvesting functions, could also become a space for urban agriculture, benefiting both the environment and the community.

In summary, the building is composed of volumes that contain the more restricted programme functions and the space between volumes, where public activities take place, particularly the fresh market and the covered public square, in continuity with the urban space.