Meeting at the market

Abstract

Markets used to be the place that connected disparate people in communities. People who had no reason to come in contact would jostle or stroll through the local market to buy fresh produce. Now, as shopping becomes more commodified, the scale of economics has meant that supermarkets have replaced markets in our towns. Often now the only interaction is in scanning a barcode. Thanks to technology we now live in a world where we can get almost anything delivered to our doorstep without seeing or talking to anyone. But is this what we want? The intention of this thesis is to examine what traditional markets have brought to our societies, what we are in danger of losing, and what a new type of market can bring to the character and spirit of our growing city. Research into historical markets, particularly in America and Britain, provides a foundation on which to understand how markets originated and developed. A study of contemporary, mixed-use urban markets such as Markthal in Rotterdam by MVRDV, and Santa Caterina market in Barcelona by EMBT, provides the theory on which the design is based. Here in Auckland, the combination of commercial and residential buildings being developed at Wynyard Quarter will create an environment that will be populated throughout the day. However, the central location along Auckland’s waterfront affords the area a high price tag, resulting in the current development catering to an affluent, and well-off market. This has created an opportunity for an intervention that provides active public space and challenges the high-end status quo. Building on the attraction and success of the existing Sanford’s Fish Market in Wynyard Quarter, the architectural proposal of this thesis takes a mixed-use planning approach, combining open public space with much needed greenery, an urban fresh produce market, affordable housing for workers and the existing functions of a fish processing and market space. This design proposes a market that facilitates the coming together of local workers, residents, and tourists over food and is a celebration of exchange and diversity.