Inside-Out | Outside-in: A Dynamic Market Machine

Inside-Out | Outside-In

A Dynamic Market Machine

Project Year: 2022 Building Typology: Wholesale Market Site Location: Taipei, Taiwan Area: 24800 sqm Type: Design Project

Wholesale markets, from which most foods in the city are distrubuted, are seemingly an urban scale machine. However, traditional wholesale markets often operates secretly inside its solid volume. In the project, I proposed a transparent form of market by adding the public circulation system and reorganizing the freight logistics system. The design was generated based on a part-to-whole design method, which creates a scenario-based relation between people and places.

Design Research on Wholesale Markets

In general, local wholesale markets are mostly comprised of logistics system, auction space, and retail vendors. The market can be considered as a freight-centered building typology. Therefore, the module of space follows the dimension of freight logistics, including vehicles, and vertical transportation system. In the early phase of the design project, I tried to integrate the logistics system and the human behavior through design researches on the existing market typology. From the loading of goods to the delivery segment, the entire procedure of freight transportation was organized and visualized with a view to clarifying the relation between each element. The results of the analysis are appied as the foundation of the following design strategies.

1. Entrance Lane

The entrance for delivery trucks is one of the most crucial elements in wholesale markets, serving as the main connection between the urban logistics system and the production space. It is a part of the circulation exclusively for vehicles.

2. Loading Deck

The loading area, which is comprised of parking spaces, mechanical loading facilities, and a large scale of empty space, is responsible for the input of goods. After loaded from the trucks, these goods will be classified and then distributed to the auction space.

3. Auction Area

The auction area, in which all the tradings of goods occur, represents the core value of the wholesale market.

4. Processing

After the auction, all of the goods will be labeled by each bidder and packaged in boxes in the main processing zone. It is a place in which workers and vehicles are both involved.

5. Internal Delivery

Based on the bidder of the goods, each box will be moved from the processing zone to either the specific retail vendor or refrigerated storage, which is on the other floor of the wholesale market.

6. Retail Vendor

Each retail vendor, which is the destination of goods, is designed with a purpose of display and sale. To maximize profits, goods should be placed in different vendor units based on the properties of themselves.

Rethink of Building Typology

Traditional wholesale markets often follows a linear order to integrate vending and circulation system. However, to enhance the availability and variety in terms of user experience, a new form of marketplace, which is comprised of dynamic freight transportation and different vendor units, was generated.

The Prototype of the Marketplace

The proposed form of wholesale market is composed of vendor units, mechanical lifts, and circulation paths, creating a double-layered unique building typology.

Phase I. Traditional Markets

The traditional building typology of markets is basically linear in order to combine vending and circulation system in an efficient approach.

Phase II. Recomposing

Based on the 10x12m module, the vending units and circulation paths are recomposed and divided to two levels.

By adding diagonal escalators, a dynamic form of market is generated. It provides customers an intriguing shopping experience.

Mechanical Lifts

The mechanical lifts are designed as the combination of vertical freight transportation and auction space in terms of their dynamics and transparency.

Vendor Units

| Type A |

Fresh Produce Stall

| Type B |

Dried Foods Stall

| Type C |

Food & Beverage Stall

| Type D |

Short-Dated Foods Stall

Organic Agriculture Cultivation Area

Retail Market

Internal Mechanical Lift Delivery System

Automated Truck Loading System

Prototype Development

The design strategy of the project is a part-to-whole method, which means to generate architecture form by combining basic prototypes. During the early phase of the project, each prototype of space was designed based on the functions of the wholesale market, including freight logistics, auction, retail, administration, circulations, and public space.

| Type A | Retail + Administration + Public

| Type B | Auction + Circulation + Retail

| Type C | Auction + Circulation + Public

| Type D | Service + Circulation + Retail

| Type E | Retail + Administration + Public

| Type F | Auction + Logistics + Public

The Transparent Machine

Based on the part-to-whole perspective, each section of the project can be regarded as a combination of events. The complexity and congestion of space, which indicate the diverse behaviors inside the wholesale market, make the market become a living machine.The transparency formed by voids and spatial elements arrangement opens up the interior of the machine, unfolding the mechanism behind the gigantic volume to the public.

Color Coding and Notation

Colors were used as the notation of events. Through labeling specific spatial elements with colors, the way each function is connected with the others was clarified in the project. The color coding also served as the indication for customers, allowing people to be aware of their location among the wholesale market.

Scenario-Based

In order to create a sense of place, relations between different characters, including suppliers, auctioneers, bidders, delivery workers, vendors, and customers, were defined through plenty of scenarios. These scenarios not only illustrates how people behave in the market, but also explain the way each function was integrated and collaged together in-scale.

Unfolding Marketplace With The Public Circulation System

From freight distribution to daily auction, stories behind wholesale markets are intriguing and inspiring. However, traditional wholesale markets usually operates in a blackbox. To open up, a public circulation system, including a wide variety of staircases, escalators, and corridors, was imported. This circulation system provides either customers or market workers an abundance of way to experience the unique charm of marketplace.

The Mechanical Auction Space As Public Narratives

With the arrangement of mechanical lifts, the auction space and public circulation system is integrated in a dynamic form. All of the scenarios among the trading process are shown as vivid narratives to the public, creating a distinctive urban space for citizens. People are able to either make purchase of goods or simply take a stroll inside the wholesale market.