Markets.
The market culture in the city is the most authentic and invigorating civic
and
architectural
experience in Barcelona. Although Gaudi’s structural sense was revolutionary,
he basically built fancy apartments and playgrounds for the happy Catalan
bourgeois. The markets of Barcelona are architecturally impressive, in some
cases avant guard, and their use value is efficient, romantic and democratic.
There is less obstruction between the farmer and the consumer, and in some
cases, the vendor is the farmer or the fisherman’s family.
Open 6 days a week, anyone can stroll in from the street for stunning, vivid
yet organised atmospheres. The produce, fish, meat and cheese for sale in
the markets are among the best in the world. The buildings are systematic
and logical, laid out on closely maintained grids, and yet chaotic, relaxed,
alive with color, sound and life.
History.
Some markets are from medieval Barcelona such as Santa Caterina pictured
above. Originally, markets were organised by the city government in order
to control taxes, hygiene, and to keep an eye on the food supply. La Boqueria
began as a makeshift place outside the city walls. The market in El Born
began in an active commercial center and remained in use on the same site
until the late 20th century. (It was permanently closed as a market when
major roman architectural remains were discovered during renovations.) By
the 19th century markets became sedentary, complex distribution networks
were in place, and the municipal government covered markets with permanent
roofs. Markets such as El Born and La Libertat were conceived in modernist
ideals using iron and brick to build soaring, weightless structures. 19th
century market architecture was a product of the same rationalist tendencies
that created L’Eixample and the division of space in the city.
Each vendor rents their booth from the municipal market authority. Each space
has access to light, electricity, telephone and water. There are communal
bathrooms,
delivery
zones and storage areas. Opening and closing times are set by the city, but
a vendor can choose not to open at all during certain days or afternoons.
Customers are free to wander around the market, paying each vendor as they
go. Although the structure functions, sometimes there is tension between
the city and the market workers. Work conditions are often difficult, especially
in the winter when cold winds blow through the open lateral sides of the
market roof. In 2005, during a particularly nasty cold spell, there were
protests and vendor demands at La Boqueria for the city to invest in plexiglas
and industrial size heaters to seal off the space and warm it up to above
freezing.
The market’s tall, open frame structures do not hold warmth, but since
the city is usually warm, they do provide a natural air conditioning to help
keep vegetables fresh during long summers. There are rarely chain retailers
inside the markets, and the community of vendors is usually close knit, often
helping each other out even when they sell the same product. The building
and the activity is in perfect harmony with each other, and yet, the experience
is aesthetic. It is interesting how long market culture has hung on considering
the invasion of bland, chain supermarkets across the city. Residents of the
city sometimes refer to each other as either market people or supermarket
people. Happily there are still enough market people to keep 46 medium to
large markets open around the city.
The local government is in the middle of a campaign to renovate its markets
one by one. In some cases, the former structures are respected and a graceful
renovation is accomplished (La Boqueria). In other cases, the architects
had more of an upscale supermarket idea in mind, and its atmosphere was completely
ruined (La Concepcio, San Gervasi). El Born remains closed, as already mentioned,
and the city is still debating what to do with the space. They are currently
building a new market in La Barceloneta that looks suspiciously like a Frank
Gehry. But the best renovation by far is of the same market that started
them all: Santa Caterina. My favourite market, La Libertat, is currently
closed for renovation, and I have a distinct but as yet unfounded feeling
of dread that they will destroy it.
The photos at the top are from a vivid and wonderful renovation that worked,
called Santa Caterina. Architects Benedetta Tagliabue and Enric Miralle dropped
a new roof onto a crumbling structure from1848. The new roof is luscious.
Its use of undulating wave shapes, bright tiles and organic forms is a remixed
spanish history lesson. It is post-modern without being ironic about its
beauty and the traditions that inspired the architects. Unlike other markets
in the city it uses neither iron nor brick as its main structural material,
instead, it draws on the fashionable Scandinavian style. Solid wood timbers
are coaxed into curved shapes that look light as air. Historically, wood
is an important material in northern Spanish architecture, but it has always
been used sparingly in combination with other materials such as stone and
brick. Since there are relatively few forests in Spain compared to the winter
wonderlands up north, I wonder why such a break with tradition was important
to the architects at Santa Caterina. Aesthetically, wood is unbeatable. Structurally
wood is sound, (and sounds great!) it breathes and flexes, but it also ages
and cracks. Environmentally, it makes sense to use wood where there is no
danger of overuse. But like the new wing of Barajas airport in Madrid, I
suspect there is not enough wood production in Spain to meet such a large
project and they have had to ship it in from hard wood exporters such as
the Ukraine. Anyhow, the building is spectacular, the market is completely
functional; antiquity updated. It is a magical experience to go buy a kilo
of deep blue grapes and look up at flying blond waves above. The neighbors
must feel the same when they gaze out across the rooftop’s cartoon
landscape while sipping their morning coffee at the kitchen table.
See more photos and information about the markets on Barcelona's city hall website here*.
