Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal
Rui Mendes Ribeiro from Atelier de Arquitectura, Unidade de Projeto Urbano, Município de Vila Nova de Famalicão has devised a new monumental, perforated metal canopy to provide covered shelter and shade in a marketplace and square in the Portuguese northern town of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
Ribeiro, who happens to also be the town council’s architecture department lead, oversaw the modernization of the traditional market, which had become outdated and was no longer attracting shoppers to its stalls.
The intervention was aimed at the market’s rehabilitation with the intention of improving previous conditions while enhancing its architectural character.
Opened in 1952 the market had helped relieve congestion at the old fairgrounds (nowadays D. Maria II Square) and to make a more pleasant urban space with better, healthier conditions.
By the time of the current intervention the space had proven obsolete and lacked capacity to attract consumers.
One notices that the urban context of the market is completed by three contiguous rectangular bodies with a turret that bears the City’s coat of arms.
At a higher elevation, access to the Market’s courtyard is made via Captain Manuel Carvalho Street and by Dona Maria II Square.
Some buildings from the town’s original marketplace designed in 1948 in a style known as Portuguese Suave, were renovated, repurposing some of the existing buildings on the site.
The main volume, which was maintained and rehabilitated in the architectural project follows the street frontage.
The courtyard, at a lower level, was supported by these buildings; interior spaces were occupied by several commercial retail establishments in which meat, fish, and fruit were sold.
In addition to the new facilities in the program, the idea of a metal canopy that would ensure the ability to meet the permanent and seasonal market needs to spearhead the addition of a cleverly designed canopy to ensure the market can operate in all weather conditions and throughout the year guaranteed not only provision of shade and shelter but a welcome reference to the pre-existing triangular module of the turret.
The design allows a greater integration to the neighborhood opening up a new face into its surroundings.
Within the covered area are new stalls for vendors including butchers, fishmongers, and florists.
These stalls take the form of gabled volumes featuring shutters that can be lowered to protect their contents when the market is closed.
The courtyard can be reached through the original buildings to the north or from the public square to the west while stairs descend from these entrances to the courtyard positioned at a slightly lower level.
Project: Municipal Market Rehabilitation Project Vila Nova de Famalicão
Architects: Rui Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, ADA – Atelier De Arquitectura, Lda.
Client: Municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão
Photographers: Ivo Tavares Studio
