Abstract:
The architectural design of the urban market place is adapted to create a new form of social infrastructure which stimulates civil society through public deliberation. The dominance of economic values in western societies such as New Zealand exerts considerable pressure on social infrastructure to continually reduce costs and become less financially dependent. Informal urban markets found within streets and open spaces of the city create an opportunity for economic transactions with greater personal and social interaction. The urban market place is an architectural archetype which has evolved and developed a variety of typologies, the architecture of these typologies can design not only the social activity of economic transactions but also how this activity can be articulated to influence civil society. The relevance of this thesis to contemporary social and urban issues is reflected in the connection of the design concept to the demand for a new form of social infrastructure in the rapidly developing urban metropolitan centre of the Whau, New Lynn. A case study of the local market at the Avondale Race Course on Ash St reveals an accessible environment of social interaction and public congregation with people from a broad range of ethnicities and economic backgrounds. Focusing on the social relationships of public congregation within the market place the process and organization of the markets is used to inform an architectural approach to adapt and enhance this interaction to stimulate civil society. The architecture of the market for civil society connects both informal and formal assets of existing local social infrastructure while also introducing new assets to strengthen and develop social capital in the Whau. The development of social capital at the micro, meso and macro scales is achieved through the design of a central hub increasing the connectivity between networks of different scales in order to stimulate social development and representation.
