Architecture, Urban Design & Collective Space
JIANGNING, CHINA
FARMERS MARKET AND CULTURAL CENTER
幻方旅设/MSTDI
Type: Infrastructure / Cultural
Size: 3000m2
Project Leader: Isaac Landeros,
Team: Carlos Espino
2016
Project Overview
The Farmers Market and Cultural Center was conceived as a multifunctional venue to strengthen the local economy and community life in Jiangning, China. Its primary aim was to provide farmers with a dedicated 3,000 m² space to sell their produce to visitors, while also offering a flexible cultural hub when the market was not in use.
Local Materials and Flexible Space
The design embraced the site's resources and traditions. Bamboo and stone were sourced locally, grounding the project in its context and reducing its environmental impact — visible in the woven bamboo-lattice roof resting on rubble-stone pilotis, and the latticed timber screens that enclose each market bay. The open layout ensures adaptability, allowing the space to seamlessly shift between commerce, exhibitions, performances, and community gatherings.
The Seamless Landscape
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Inspiration for the design came directly from the surrounding landscape, where hills, lakes, tea fields, and bamboo groves form a continuous rhythm. The seamless landscape (read more in the Field Notes section) informed both the spatial organization and the material palette. Rather than imposing itself on the environment, the project was conceived as an extension of it, echoing its repetitions and harmonies.
The project explored how architecture can support local economies and cultural exchange by offering a place rooted in tradition yet open to collective transformation.