Phase 1
Beirut Souks
Location: city-center of Beirut, Lebanon
Architect : Rafael Moneo
Year: 2008
Land Use: Retail - Office - Cultural – Entertainment
Typology: Souk
Height: 2 floors
Surface occupied ≈ 71,903 sqm
Beirut souks are commercial areas in the center of Beirut, Lebanon. They are ones of the largest
shopping areas in Beirut. Historically, the market area was the commercial nerve of the city, and
that until 1975, when the civil war began and the entire district was destroyed. It was fully
rehabilitated by Rafael Moneo after the war. His point was to create a structure that could give to
this place the importance it would have had in the past, and that could receive all those activities
happening in the souks. The project wanted to keep the prewar Hellenistic grid, allowing people to
wander into those long public spaces, which staid open, and connected with surrounding streets.
The double height of the shops and the walls with lookalike stone, made of concrete, fits perfectly
with the old district of Beirut. The zenithal light of the passage gives an own architectural
atmosphere, without being able to assimilate it to what we understand as a building.
Or Tor Kor Market
Location: Bangkok, Chatuchak district
Architect: Unknown
Year: Unknown
Land Use: Food, textiles, jewelry retail
Typology: Covered market
Height: 1 floor
Surface occupied: 1 hall ≈ 5000 sqm
Or Tor Kor is a fresh market in Chatuchak district of Bangkok. It is known for its fruits and
vegetables, but we can also find there some meat, fishes, clothes, jewelry... Because of its
freshness and its neatness, it is consider by many tourist guides as one of the best fresh markets
in the world. Indeed, the way everything is tidied and well-presented makes it a beautiful place.
Everything is organized and follows the guiding lines made of tiles on the floor: the shops stay in
their assigned place. There is still some deviations: people would let stools or bins in behind the
line. There are three different programs using this place: stalls, air-conditioned boutiques, and
food courts. The three of them use this frame in a different way.
Bo Bae Market
Location Bangkok, along the Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem
Architects None
Year Unknown
Land Use Textile retail and wholesale
Typology Crossing the khlong
Height 1 floor
Surface occupied 6 bridges ≈ 100 sqm
1 market ≈ 78 000 sqm
Bo Bae bridge market is crossing the Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem and connecting Krum Kasem
Rd to the Bo Bae market, which touches the railway. This shows how the market places are
connected to traffics and means of transports. It is the focal point between the road (cars and bus),
the canal (boats, bus-boat) and the railway (trains), but is dedicated to pedestrians. That gives
them a special place on each one of the six bridges. There are three remarkable typologies of
marketplaces. The first one is an uncovered footpath between two covered area, protected by the
wind and the rain by a long tarp. The second one is made of independent stalls that would have
their own coverage. And the last one, is one same tarp that is covering all the whole bridge,
including the passageway.
Implantation over the khlong
Implantion around the khlong
Walkway on the bridge
Different typologies of passages
