A decade ago new European regulations set stricter requirements on selling produce such as fish, meat and cheese in the open air. In Rotterdam, this development inspired the design of an indoor fresh food market. In November 2009 the construction of ‘De Markthal’ started, which was finished 5 years later. It was designed by architectural firm MVRDV and it is the first indoor market in the Netherlands, that is combined with housing.

The Markthal was built on the spot where the former peat river Rotte, which gave Rotterdam its name, used to meet the large river, today De Nieuwe Maas. Here the settlement of Rotta started in 1270. During construction of the Markthal all sorts of mediaeval objects were found, from vases and tools to numerous cannonballs. These objects can be seen in the escalator space and in the car park. The 40-metre-tall arch is decorated by “Cornucopia”, a massively enlarged image of food, flowers and insects made by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam, referring to Dutch still-life paintings from the 17th century.

Soon after opening the market faced a lot of problems related to extreme indoor temperatures, vermin, poor sales and vacancies due to high rent.

Sources
Aguilar, C. (2023). Markthal Rotterdam / MVRDV. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/553933/markthal-rotterdam-mvrdv

User, S. (z.d.). Markthal. Markthal. Geraadpleegd op 23 juni 2021, van https://www.markthal.nl/en/about-markthal/the-building