Abstract:

Located in Pontal, Brazil, a town shaped by rail history, the project occupies a disused railway warehouse that once structured the city. The former rail yard and abandoned tracks separate the city centre from surrounding residential districts, yet the proposal reinterprets this condition as an opportunity to reconnect the city through a green public spine. By transforming the warehouse into a public market hall, the project gathers the region’s scattered fairs, strengthens gastronomic tourism and local craftsmanship, and creates a place for producers, residents and visitors, while supporting shared use between people, vegetation and urban wildlife. To accommodate the expanded programme, a new building constructed in steel is placed alongside the existing brick warehouse, remaining deliberately detached from it. While the historic structure houses the main market activities and spaces of exchange, the new volume concentrates the technical and service functions that support use. The gap between the two buildings reinforces the coexistence between past and present, clearly distinguishing industrial memory from contemporary intervention. An elevated red walkway crosses this in-between space and connects levels, uses and urban rhythms as a continuous public promenade. Above the buildings, three large floating canopies define shaded areas for the square, the inner street and market activities, allowing public life to unfold throughout the day.