Must see project of the week: Symbiotic Dynamic Market | Sushant Verma & Pradeep Devadass – rat[LAB]

The project ‘symbiotic dynamic market’ is a re-interpretation of the concept of share-holding for a public market in Casablanca, Morocco, to attain social, cultural and economic sustainability in a community. The idea is based around dividing the space into a modular lattice system, with 100 usable market cells of 16 sq. m. each that can be re-arranged and re-organized with time, depending on the ownership, share-holding, symbiotic relationship and spatial requirements of the market space. It is a real-time dynamic system that evolves with time to sustain its functionality and workability, where the dynamism is controlled by each member of the community individually, giving an ownership and sense of responsibility to each member, doing business in the market.

PROGRAMMATIC ZONING

The dynamic and symbiotic characteristics of a traditional Souk are translated in the functioning of the market. The 5 major market zones, namely Fish & Seafood, Meat, Fruits & Vegetable, Flowers and Spices, work in a symbiotic relationship, with each other, as well as within each zone. Each zone has its ownership value (the public space – circulation) and shared assets (common partitions & overlap spaces). Each zone can grow and evolve up to 20 cubical spaces, when the saturation point is reached, totalling to a 100 cubes, giving a 1600 sq. m. of usable floor area. The market functions when a minimum of 4 cubical spaces (or 4 owners) combine to form a cluster, totalling to a less-dense model with 20 cubes in the entire market. Over these 100 cubes, 8 are allocated to a café space (128 sq. m.), which remains static at all times, providing a shield to the semi-open interior space.

 

SPATIAL QUALITY

The circulation of the market is designed as a traditional boulevard re-interpreted as a modern fluid pedestrian ramp, which connects to all the major market zones going up at different levels, which continues to the ground from a staircase to the central court. Traditional motif patterns, are articulated as roll-and-lock screens that form the partitions in the entire market, as well as the exterior skin of the market clusters, giving dynamic and intricate light-and-shade patterns in the interior space.

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