Žilinská Market Place

  • zilinska
  • zilinska
  • zilinska

Idea description:

The market place in Žilinská Street is one of the oldest market places in Bratislava and, at the same time, is the last traditional market place in Staré mesto. Rybné námestie has been renovated, the Malý trh was moved and the Stará tržnica is soon to be rented by more lucrative clients. The mar- ket place in Žilinská Street is a very popular place thanks to its unique atmosphere. Other than that we can buy fresh vegetables there, fruits or flowers from small growers in Záhorie or from Žitný ostrov, this place is also a source of unique social occurrences and situations. Places like this make a city real.
The land housing the market place is currently under private ownership and pursuant to city planning it may be built over. The owner doesn’t have enough resources for any construction activities and developers interested in the lucrative land are putting pressure on him. In spite of its promise and high public interest, the city has taken no measures to save the market place as yet.
Under current con- ditions the market place can‘t be saved for long. Our project relates to the cities architecture connecting square metres and generating profit with market place added value. The market place will stay at its original location and the space above and below it shall be used as dwellings and parking spaces. The market place shall be protected from the rain and sun by an open arcade 6 metres in height. Good lighting and ventilation conditions will thus be provided, but foremost, the market place will remain a part of semi-public city premises and, at the same time, it will become a new city icon. The building communication and frame basis shall be lo- cated in the centre of top view and the market place shall remain open and accessible from any and all sides. It will thus gain a “show-window” towards neighbouring streets.
A steel façade framework shall be installed on the buildings exterior, which will turn into an arcade at the parterre level. Dwellings shall be located in the upper fourth – sixth floors above the market place. The location of the dwellings is pretty lucrative and, thanks to the market place, they will be very well facilitated. Connecting the market place and dwelling activities seems also to be ideal from the point of view of time, since the market place will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and dwellings will be active from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m.; their times should thus not overlap. Our proposal considers three underground parking floors; such a solution should resolve the parking problems of the neighbourhood. The design is schematic only; we have not yet handled it in detail.
This idea is dedicated to a developer, who is ex- acting and who knows that investments into added value bring benefits for everyone – for him and for the city. At the same time we want to be critical regarding the city plan, since we believe that places like this should have strictly defined not only horizontal, but also vertical programme parameters.