La Merced Market

Competition for an urban plan regeneration of The Merced.  It is one of the zones in Mexico City where density is strongly felt.  A historic site, for centuries a market district  but now  in heavy need of restructuring and renewal to meet new ways of transport, distribution, and proper exchange.

It is a district where all dimensions of citizen life culminate. Life there is diverse, active, conflictive, with heavy heat, sounds and smells. It is the origin of society and an expression of it. The flows of people, vehicles, and goods create an intense and problematic condition. The amount of stands exceeds the size of the available urban space.  It is expressed in the abundance of street vendors, a high percentage of the retail in Merced.

Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the world, needs striking solutions.  But it also requiers measures that can be absorbed by its users. The project presents the following ideas: ordered informality, limited and partially covered open air market, segregated vehicular and pedestrian flows, defined cargo zones, better and potentialized conectivity with the subway, programatic combinations anchored to the site like piled housing with a new market wing, transport hubs mixed and enriched with urban facilities. In this way it is expected that every protagonist of Merced finds a better space and presence.