The “Marketplace of North Coast” is situated on the north side of the public cluster in the southern part of this area. Aranya’s self-operated canteen and supermarket provide the park with affordable meals, fresh food, and daily groceries.
To minimize obstruction of sea views for residents in the apartment buildings on the west side and reduce mutual sight interference, the marketplace is designed as a flat, single-story structure without towering spaces. We envision this project as a miniature urban marketplace and have introduced the spatial organization of “indoor shops and plazas”. Initially, a series of small roofed structures with subtle size variations are scattered across the site to serve as distinctive stalls accommodating various businesses within the market.
The outer perimeter of the marketplace features a continuous gallery with lower roofs, serving as a transition space between the marketplace and the park. Shops are designed with takeaway windows facing the gallery, and the gallery extends in a sinuous manner on the east side and northwest corner, creating three green courtyards surrounded by corridors.
The gallery not only forms a welcoming and continuous interface on a human scale, fostering a pleasant entry experience but also provides expansion space for outdoor setups during peak seasons and weekend markets.
This spatial structure, while maintaining the topological relationships of traditional marketplaces, seamlessly integrates into the park environment on a miniaturized scale, to form a kind of clustered settlement space defined by scattered small tapered roof units. Following the logic of distinguishing spatial types, the construction system is also categorized into two systems: the concrete shear wall tapered roof units (for distinctive shops) and the steel frame structure with a flat roof (for public plazas and peripheric galleries). This juxtaposition of structural elements is leveraged to enhance the experiential quality of the spatial content.
The interior design for this marketplace aims to further augment the sensory experiential framework of the core concept under the dual juxtaposition logic of spaces and content between “shops” and “plazas”. In contrast to the everydayness of communal areas with horizontal expansion, the towering interiors of the shops, featuring skylights, establish a certain sublime atmosphere.
The unique colors, textures, and atmospheres set in each shop create a strong sense of discovery upon entering. In contrast to the everydayness of communal areas with horizontal expansion, the towering interiors of the shops, featuring skylights, establish a certain sublime atmosphere. The unique colors, textures, and atmospheres set in each shop create a strong sense of discovery upon entering. This construction of everyday consumption spectacle associates the daily meals and life vitality within the Aranya resort enclave with the experiential consumption community link of the mobile internet era.
Architects: Atelier Z+
Lead Architects: ZHOU Wei ,ZHANG Bin
Architectural Design: LIU Xiaoyu, LI Ang, CHEN Zhaoming, HE Yongxian, WANG Yan, CAI Han, PAN Yiting (intern), LIU Zehua (intern), ZHU Ying (intern)
Photographs: Shengliang Su, Min Yang