Excavators are already here

Vienna is now going through with the conversion of Naschmarkt

The planned "market space" is still causing a stir. The city is convinced that this will give the market a new figurehead.

(Bild: Mostlikely Architecture_DnD)

Four years after the initial plans, the Naschmarkt parking lot is now to be given a new look and the Naschmarkt a hall that should not be called a hall. The city no longer wants to be stopped by criticism and protests. However, opponents of the project are threatening to occupy the construction site.

The excavators have already removed the first layers of concrete - now things are getting serious with the redesign of the Naschmarkt parking lot and the open space behind the market office, which was previously used by stallholders and the farmers' market. Everything should be finished in two years, despite the protests that have been announced, including the threatened occupation of the construction site by local residents.

A "green roof" at ground level
The parking lot will be divided into two halves: 5000 square meters of it will become a green space with around 80 trees. A tricky task for landscape planner Sabine Dessovic: this is actually a green roof on the vault of the Wienfluss superstructure, which is only 70 centimetres below the surface at its highest point. The second half will become an open space for the flea market. During the week, a water feature will provide cooling in summer.

Criticism of the planned new "market space" continues unabated
The plans for the parking lot please almost all residents and are the result of earlier protests: originally, a large market hall was to have been built here. In the meantime, district head Markus Rumelhart is also happy that the previous summer "roasting oven" has been defused and an open space has been created instead of a "Chinese wall" between Mariahilf and Margareten.

Architect Mark Neuner, Neos planning spokesperson Selma Arapovic, planning councillor Ulli Sima, landscape planner Sabine Dessovic and district head Markus Rumelhart.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

However, the small market hall, which should not be called that, is still controversial: Planning Councillor Ulli Sima prefers to call it "market space" and wants to enhance the market with it - both visually ("Now you have the feeling it's running out a bit") and in terms of the offer. She wants to create a platform for local producers as a counterbalance to the food mile: "It's easiest to earn money with gastronomy, it takes a little longer to sell gherkins."

Back to the roots?
"Marktraum" architect Mark Neuner recalls that the market, including the previous parking lot, was completely built up until the 1970s. The new building therefore not only creates a new offer, but also a design bridge to the market's original appearance. However, after four years of tug-of-war, Sima is determined to get the project off the ground anyway: "Nothing will change now."

If I had wanted to stubbornly push the project through the wall, we would be finished by now. We have brought most of the critics on board.

Planungsstadträtin Ulli Sima über den Kampf um die Umgestaltung

The Naschmarkt residents' group, who want to prevent the "market space", feel "papered over" as a result. In their view, the "1000 square meter steel and glass cube up to eight meters high" fits the Naschmarkt architecture "like a glove". The "famously profile-seeking city councillor" Ulli Sima merely wants to erect a monument to herself. They want to occupy the building site of the hall and compete with "baby carriages and wheelchairs" against "excavators and concrete mixers", the residents announce.

Sima and Rumelhart take the threat in their stride. "It doesn't have the energy of the city street protests," says Sima, pointing out that the Greens are now also in favor of the project. "I don't see a mass movement coming our way," says Rumelhart. They are convinced that there will be no need for tactics on how to deal with any squatters.