Mercato Romano, is my take on a contemporary marketplace in central Rome, outside the Emmanuele Vittorio Monument. Its a two story structure with an indoor and outdoor market, surrounded my green space and fountains. Even though this cite is a great location for access to the public, a main problem is noise and tourism. For those reasons I incorporated walls surrounding the market to stop it from being a tourist stop for the monument; running water is placed throughout the area to control sound; and two towers were built that have soaring towers for people to reflect to the sky and not to the surrounding city, moments of peace in the city.

I wanted this market in the sunny Rome to be all about light. The upper half of the market is outdoor and has Spanish-tiled rooftop structure protecting it from the sun. However I’ve replaced certain tiles with glass windows to have a scattered pattern of lights and shadows on the market below. The lower half of the market is indoor to allow for a non-perishables grocery store and specific shops like butchers, fish market, bakeries, and other shops that need their spaces to be temperature controlled. This space is much more closed off but where there are areas for people to sit and eat indoor, the ceiling becomes the bottom of one of the many fountains allowing for shimmering sunlight from above.