Streets - Village Market
For the PAM–MBSJ SK10 Market Design Competition, Weiwen Architecture Studio, led by Ar. Daniel Tiong Wei Wen, received a Commendation award in 2024 for a proposal that rethinks the contemporary public market as an extension of the street and community life within Seri Kembangan, Selangor.
Seri Kembangan is a New Village of rural settlement setting their roots in the 1950s. Since then, the livelihood of the people revolves around the street as shops, play, social and live are all intertwined along the street and it forms a significance identity and memories to both older and younger generations growing together in town. As all town has it’s heart, Seri Kembangan market was once a place for local to gather, carrying out their daily routines and a place to social. The affect of the market affects the surrounding streets and businesses creating a once vibrant street which people of Seri Kembangan creates meaningful connection between communities. In another saying, the market is the street and the street is the people.
Intention
The intention of this proposal is to reconnect market-street-people by extending the street typology into the market to create a new ground planes for public domain as a place of gathering, and reinvent market typology to be more permeable, naturally illuminated-ventilated, and spatially-socially-programmatically expendable.
Concept
Street-People-Memories
Extending the notion of streets from neighbouring street into the market connected via a main Arcade spine. This unorthodox configuration creates a clear vista from all side of the streets inside out connecting people from existing shops and two existing allocated lot of large carparking areas. Both neighbouring shops businesses and market vendor can both reconnect like the old days and benefit from this expanded pedestrian flow into or out from the market.
New ground planes
The notion of new ground planes defines the different floor catering to different interest and has its own dedicated entrance which direct public coming form different directions: ground floor main spine entry connection north-east entrance plaza to south-west existing carparking zone entrance while all sides facing the street are pedestrian accessible via internal streets linking to main spine, Upper floor connecting people entry from north-west existing carparking zone via an amphitheatre stair step, Roof floor sloping viewing onto the north-east junction new proposed plaza entrance. Each floors has clear programmatic intention for different group of vendor and interest. Ground floor are cater for wet market, ground mezzanine floor and first floor upper market are cater for dry goods and stalls, roof floor are cater for flea market and temporal-seasonal events.
Permeable market
The new market expresses a place which is permeable for pedestrian connection, visual vistas, and lighting-ventilation. This addresses the issue of conventional market which is otherwise isolated and internalized from external environment.
Bridging Nodes
This new proposed market will be the urban catalyst for the town by bridging nearby nodes of interest and transportation hub via future phase proposed pedestrian linkage. These linkages are essential for public coming from opposite the river and the MRT station, which further strengthen the inter-city connections, reduces the traffic congestion along the main road connecting to the market, and improves the walkability for the people coming into the market .
Conclusion
As conclusion, this proposal aims to rethink a new market typology which integrates the spirit of the street and it’s people, collaborating between existing vendors and new young vendor, and expanding the possibility of public domain within a market that addresses the potential and impact of a marketplace to people.
Text by architect
PROJECT GALLERY
Share this project
