Markets

Markets serve the common good and are an essential part of public life. The aim of this work is to draw attention to the social function and significance of the market as public space. Looking beyond the products it sells, the focus here is on what makes the market attractive for visitors as a place for recreation, communication, exchange, and shared experience. Ronja Ratzenstaller conducts user studies, observations, and interviews at Berlin’s Winterfeldtmarkt and Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg, analysing and typologising the qualities, identities, functions, and architectures of markets and stands. Based on empirical research into social space, she studies the quality of experience of visitors to the market. This forms the basis for her design of a modular, transportable, and demountable seating landscape consisting of three elements that can be combined with each other. The free arrangement and combination options offer maximal versatility. Together with the market stalls, the furniture is easy to assemble and dismantle. The concept was implemented in the markets at Winterfeldtplatz and in Markthalle Neun in Berlin.