MARKETPLACE ZADAR

Market place with concrete columns and light steel roof structure in the green roof garden overlooks public square.

Site plan of Zadar historic centre showing open public spaces

Urban design diagram of market place and public square

site plan showing new market place and public square in historic centre

axonometric view showing elements of market place, flower market, orchard and public square

aerial view showing public square, covered market place, flower market and orchard inside historic centre

historic church ruins renovated as a flower pavilion with light steel translucent structure inside

section through public space, covered marketplace an city walls

view inside the green marketplace with light steel and translucent roof above

view from city walls onto the green roof, light structure and marketplace underneath

Through the structure of the city’s urban tissue, an image of a specific way of life can be assembled. The dense network of streets and squares, their proportion and scale, as well as the private, semi-public and public boundaries result in the dynamic life of the city’s historic center. Today, Zadar’s center tends to become a postcard with the intention of attracting more and more tourists, thus at the same time rapidly losing public space and everyday life on the streets. The positions of the two marketplace buildings define a new public square, ensuring the preservation of the historic identity of the city and the Mediterranean lifestyle.

From the base of the existing tiled paving, full of denivelations and archeological marks, the new portico emerges. With its urban motif, scale and shading, it defines the façade of the new square, while at the same time providing a porous connection to the market. The positioning of the portico columns follows the rhythm of the existing lines of trees. The portico, also used as a passageway or a viewing hall, creates an edge around the marketplace, employing its lower height and continuity to emphasize the tall central space as a focal point. Generous dimensions of the central space allow for flexibility in use after market hours are over, with the space transforming, for example, into a covered basketball court or an event space.

A basilical section introduces lateral light into the marketplace, allowing for natural air flow and opening the view from the city walls to the marketplace. The vegetation on the concrete portico roof connects with the tree tops and the vegetation of the city walls. This creates a sense of ambient continuity of the green city walls, with the marketplace emerging as a pavilion in the park. Underneath, the same continuity is achieved through the scale, stereotomy and texture of the materials used.

LOCATION: Zadar

CLIENT: Grad Zadar, competition

YEAR: 2016

SIZE: project area 8.680 m2

COMPANY: ONDA ARHITEKTURA

COMPETITION DESIGN TEAM:

Nika Dželalija, Krešimir Renić

COMPETITION COLLABORATORS:

architectural renderings - Jan Ružić

structural design - Tvrtko Renić