Life, Design, and Reuse in the City: the Velho Mercado Novo

Abstract

This article presents a case study of Velho Mercado Novo (Old New Market), in the city of Belo Horizonte: a design approach that led to a strategy of reusing empty storefronts at Mercado Novo (New Market), capable of reconciling the interests of old and new vendors and renewing the importance of this location in the city, highlighting the old and the traditional. The theoretical background includes discussions in the fields of social sciences and design that understand sustainability not only through reuse, but also through reconnection between people and locations. In this case study, I analyze the bonds built with the history and life of the place, revealed in formal and symbolic aspects of the new businesses. The successful takeovers focused on the construction of an idea of the market that could articulate tradition, ruins, diversity and the future