Urban permeability: linking the market and the city through the public space

Màster universitari en Estudis Avançats en Arquitectura: Contemporary ProjectThe public space is the stage in which the relations between the inhabitants are developed. It is important that the relationship between buildings whether public or private and the city is a permeable transition as it is in this public space in which urban life is promoted. The main goal of this thesis is to reflect on the permeability between buildings and the city. In this context, as a tool for the research it has been chosen the main topic of the Contemporary Project Master, markets; from where the hypothesis has been developed: The market is a public facility of the city in which necessary and optional activities are developed. The permeability of the market with the city’s urban tissue stimulates the social interaction of the inhabitants through the variety of activities. In this research are used the concepts of permeability and its main features as porosity, viscosity and pressure to be applied in the architectural field and define urban permeability. Then, through an exploration about maps and their intention to communicate, it has been established a way to represent the mentioned urban permeability in a graphic method to reflect how the space is linked to the city and how the inhabitants use it. Given the background, the above concepts are applied in a case study with the purpose of illustrating and understanding the urban permeability in a project in Barcelona that although it is privately owned, has a collective character in its utility. Finally, it is presented the project of the public space developed through the research which links the Galvany Market with the urban fabric of the neighborhood to which it belongs, Sant Gervasi-Galvany