Mart 125 Mart 125, was an indoor market place that housed African street vendors from all over the Diaspora. It was developed by government agencies to remove street vendors in the mid-1980. During the Giuliani era, due to politics, poor management and the redevelopment of Harlem, the Mart was forced to close down in 2002. Currently, the vendors have either been fortunate enough to get their own store fronts in Harlem or are back to vending on the streets, without any secuirty or support. Social condenser The role that Mart 125 had throughout the 80’s up until the early 2000 is reborn in 125th’s Accelerator Pool. The project seeks to accelerate and condensate all the current street vendors of Harlem, providing them with not only indoor store fronts, but spaces for public gathering which are fluid and changing over time. Structure and program Constituted by modules arrayed through a 3d Cellular Automata algorithm, the design defines extremely various and different interior scales, from large open areas to intimate enclosed rooms. The variability in scale defines also the programmatic arrangement, with the largest spaces being, alternatively during the day, pool and indoor piazzas.
125th’s ACCELERATOR POOL
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