The Markthal is a residential and office building with a market hall underneath, located in Rotterdam. The building was opened on October 1, 2014.
Located under the 40-metre-tall arch of the Markthal, the building’s signature feature is the world’s largest artwork covering the building’s vaulted interior. “Cornucopia”, by artists @arno.coenen and @iris_podeji_me shows massively enlarged images of food products alongside flowers and insects, in reference to Dutch still-life paintings from the 17th century and of course celebrating the produce being shown in the market stalls below. At over 11,000 square meters in size with a resolution comparable to a glossy magazine, the digital file of the artwork was almost 1.5TB in size, and required the help of @pixar studios to render! The artwork is printed onto perforated aluminium panels, which are attached to acoustic panels to reduce the noise in the market hall to a minimum.
The Markthal is a sustainable combination of food, leisure, living, and parking, a building in which all functions are fully integrated to celebrate and enhance their synergetic possibilities. A secure, covered square is nestled beneath a large arch, conceived as an entirely new take on a typical market square and its surrounding buildings.
The building has a total floor area of 95,000 square meters, with 228 apartments and 1,200 below-ground parking spaces. But the building’s most striking feature is its central market hall, which provides a home for 96 fresh food stalls and shop units, ranging from Rotterdam-based businesses and market vendors to established local heroes. They offer a diverse range of products: from fresh fish to game, from cappuccino to cheese, from local favorites to exotic cuisine, and from bargains to exclusive slow food.
