We at glaserworks feel honored to have been selected to work on another architectural legacy.
I’d like to talk about the market as architecture, and the market as a place in the civic realm of Cincinnati.
Architecture is about giving form to someone’s dreams. We wanted to save a piece of Cincinnati’s architectural legacy. But the dream we pursued was that by expanding the market, we could spark the rebirth of the neighborhood and give it a center. We hoped it would become a place for people from all over the city to meet. We hoped it would become an incubator for entrepreneurs.
From the beginning we saw the market – not just as the market house – but as a market plaza. The building in the middle would open on both sides and the edge of the plaza would be lined with shops. The space between the building and the shops would be full of people and vendors. Findlay Market would be a place – not just a building.
The first step in our work was to move the parking lot and put the farmers’ market shed in the middle of it. Before the new lot was built you had had to park where the ball field is now and walk through some alleys.
The farmers’ market shed was a modern restatement of the old market shed, which was not enclosed. The shed made a home for the farmers, flower-growers, and bakers and who play a unique part in the shopping experience at Findlay.
The market shed was a happy building, which put a face on what was to come. It was the first expression of our new color palette— the creation of Lori Siebert and Marcia Shortt. The palette was based on the colors of fruits and vegetables,
The north buildings were necessary for expansion of the market. In order to renovate the market building, and keep the market in operation, we had to have a place to move the vendors.
The north buildings set a tone for the colors of future façades. They said to all who saw them that the market was not just the market building, but a plaza with shops on both sides.
When the original market building opened, it was not enclosed. I always imagined it as a Greek revival temple. The 1970’s renovation of the market house was nicely designed, but it was all closed in. It turned its back to the street. Our first thought was to blow away all that wood and open it up.
Put in a lot of glass, so that that people could see in, and so it was inviting.
Put in the garage doors because we wanted to engage the Street. By this I mean, we saw the shops across the street as part of the market. For this reason, along the north side we installed garage doors so produce vendors could spill out on to the street in good weather.
And we made the ends of the building glass, so passers-by on Race and Elm could see in.
We painted the original columns and trusses red and muted the colors on the new ones, so you could always find the old building within the new; and We kept the old roof.
In the process of design, we looked at a lot of schemes for the roof. We had sheds, that went up, flat roofs and false façades. In the end we decided that the plane of the original roof should remain primary, so we put the mechanical equipment in a slot, and extended the roof in the same plane.
Painted the columns red, so they would mark out the space;
Painted the walls a warm yellow, so the inside of the market would be inviting;
Painted the ceilings a light blue to remind us of the sky; and
Used silver, stainless and white in the vendors work area so they would appear hygienic.
On the outside we put the colors of tomatoes, oranges, and carrots that would talk about produce. And because of the complementary colors, we hoped visitors would say, “this is a happy place.”
Michael Moose, a principal, was the design architect for the renovation of Findlay Market. Other glaserworks architects who worked on the market are principals Art Hupp and Kevin Morris and project architect, Mincho Petkov.
