Zadar NewMarket

year 2016

Competition project

location Zadar (Croatia)

program The project brings out the ancient market of the city of Zadar, set between the high terraces of the sixteenth-century walls and surrounded by building fragments of high historical-archaeological value and the contemporary city. The two project areas are developed for the reorganization of this part of the city. In zone 1 (Market), a steel structure roof modulated according to the geometric rhythm of the square's space allows maximum distribution and functional freedom of the stalls and maximum transparency. The roof is like a continuous horizontal curtain, without creating an obstacle to the view of the bastions from below and the surrounding buildings, and without blocking the internal view of the city from the ramparts. A curtain of light that reflects on the ground on the Istrian stone of the square. Zone 2 looks like an empty space close to the traditional city market. Adjacent to the ancient churches of San Simeone and San Rocco, the area is waiting to be excavated to understand which archaeological finds from the city's most ancient periods are hidden underground. The intervention foresees, once the presence of the underlying archaeological area has been verified, a new market building around a central courtyard which incorporates, in its geometric layout, the regular texture of the Roman streets of the walled city.