New Covered Market
Rimini - Italy
- Commercial
Location
- Naples - Italy
Year
- 2020 - on going
Client
- Renco Valore S.p.A. (Private)
Activities
- Preliminary and final design, working drawingsexecutive project
Costs
- 17,5 M €
Area
- 9700 sqm
The 60s building housing the covered market in the historic center of Rimini is being demolished to create a new structure that better meets current needs, operator demands and the latest regulations and standards.
The project adheres to and reinterprets a shared functional program that combines existing sales activities, such as the large fish market, the fruit and vegetable department, the general food and delicatessen departments, and the CONAD supermarket, with other activities. These activities are linked to a conception of the market as a socio-economic attractor, a showcase of local products, and a place where sales and refreshment areas, rest and meeting spaces, and services aimed at citizens are concentrated. The current market faces limitations due to inadequate and obsolete buildings. The new project aims to improve internal efficiency and continuity among coexisting activities while adapting to the context.
Read more
The sales spaces are distributed in a way that facilitates flow, without the current breaks in elevation between the area used for the fish market and other activities. This expresses the continuity sought within. The basement floor is where the parking stalls for the operators and the cold rooms are located, directly connected to the ground floor where the market activities take place. The second floor features ancillary spaces required for the market's operation, such as warehouses, locker rooms, and restrooms. Equipped parking areas and spaces for municipal offices, with independent access, are adjacent to these spaces, enhancing the market's public value. The layout of routes and accesses supports the articulation of interior spaces. Continuity also affects the outdoor spaces. The existing market's assertive volume is completely indifferent to the context, while the design of the new market confronts the specificity of the site. Therefore, it takes into account the proximity to the Malatesta Temple, the presence of two structuring axes of the historic center - Via IV Novembre, a component of the cardo maximus of the Roman Ariminium, and Via Castelfidardo, the Strada Nuova opened in the sixteenth century -, the site of the ancient Convent of San Francesco, destroyed by bombing in World War II and the traces that remain of it, and the proximity to Largo Antonio Gramsci, a large urban void used as a parking lot. The project aims to connect previously separated or inaccessible areas of the city by utilizing glass surfaces to create new physical and visual relationships. It also creates new public spaces, including a square within the building and a terrace with a refreshment point and roof garden, which face the Malatesta temple. The new building incorporates the forgotten traces of the oldest history of this place, using the remains of the Convent of St. Francis as an entrance portal to the Market. The portal is marked by three footbridges on the ground, connecting Via IV Novembre with the inner square of the new building. The square's geometric matrix also references the destroyed ancient cloister. The demolition of the existing building and the construction of a new covered market present an opportunity to create a system of public spaces in the city. The market has historically served as a hub for community relationships, activities, and commerce. As a quintessential public space, it fully embodies its role and identity within the urban landscape. The design of the new Rimini Covered Market is developed based on these assumptions. Its configuration is measured and enriched in inseparable spatial, social, and identity continuity with the public space of the city.
