02

DESIGN STATEMENT

P/Market; Shift Market into Park with Waterway

Traditional markets are very close to our lives. But as COVID-19 intensifies, the local market opening rate is declining all over the world. Since people cannot go shopping to large stores or department stores for every meal, it is necessary to consider how to revitalize the traditional market in the community under the pandemic situation.

Currently, the excellent standard for markets corresponding to COVID situation is how well each store social-distance, and how well putting masks on and using hand sanitizers. This is not an architectural solution, and simply maintaining social distance reduces the number of stores that can be opened on the same site and reduces the efficiency of land use. Therefore, architects must build circumstances where people can shop in safety and the comfortable with high efficiency of land use.

So, we revitalize the market by vertically expanding the market from current single leveled linear markets, forming a park in between and providing open spaces in the city. Shifting market into ‘Parket(Park+Market)’, and the ‘Parket’ blocks the spread of viruses and minimizes user anxiety.

We introduce ‘WATER’ to accommodate many stores in social distance within a given site. The higher the humidity, the slower the virus spreads and the waterways can block people moving but the eyes can be passed through, creating an open and pleasant circulation in nature-friend site. Therefore, water is an excellent response to virus blocking and park providing in the market because it rules circulation flow and comforts. Pedestrians' moving and the form of store units, and the sales system follows the formation of waterways.

We apply this system to the Seoul Central Market located in Seoul, Korea. The Seoul Central Market currently sells complex items such as instant food, groceries, clothing and furniture on the ground floor thoughtlessly following the linear layout, and the Creative Arts Center is located on basement floor. The problem is first, it has reckless zoning of stores, second, there’s no separation of cars and pedestrians. As a result, the moving of market users is complicated, and the twisted traffic and pedestrians raises the risk.

So, we’d like to propose a zoning plan blocking spread of viruses. The area of traffic and goods loading-unloading will be placed underground, grocery and various daily necessities stores placed on the ground floor, and stores that are likely to be contacted by people, which is like eating instant food and engaging in art activities placed on the second floor. Store density is adjusted by floor according to risk level, and waterways and parks formed between stores provide. In the warm season, partly formed water walls give gap between stores and it blocks viruses and offsetting urban noise as nature elements. In winter, curtain-type Louver walls are installed to prevent water walls from freezing.

Starting with the Seoul Central Market, the ‘Parket’, we designed is expected to become a model of the urban markets around the world that should be prepared for the Pandemic situation in the future and revive the fading traditional markets.