New Encants Market

Barcelona, Spain

Photo © Rafael Vargas

Architects: b720 Fermin Vazquez arquitectos

Location: Avinguda Meridiana, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
Year: 2013

The new market “Mercat dels Encants” in Barcelona acts as a mediation device between the renovated Plaza de las Glorias, and the axis of the Meridiana, an area popularly known as “el Bosquet de les Glòries”.

The proposal consists of a continuous platform (or commercial plaza) which folds and divides into several floors, creating a suitable surface for all the mercantile activities.

The platform slopes to conciliate the different levels of the street. The market itself is conceived as a great covered exterior plaza, capable of installing activity to all the pieces of the program.

The roof plane is the main element of the project and the most recognizable piece at urban-scale. It gives shelter to the commercial activities and at the same time materializes as a mechanism to reflect the city into the interior of the market. Each structural module slopes differently to reflect light, the atmosphere and the surrounding scenery.