Produbarna –  the future of food production in Zona Franca

History of Mercabarna

Mercabarna was created in 1967. It was named Mercat del Born which was the first wholesale of fruits and vegetables in Barcelona. It is in the early 80s that this industry is relocated in the area of Zona Franca, with the addition of new functions such as the seafood and flower market. From 2012 and ongoing, renovations and new programs are introduced to the industry, such as the fight against food waste.

The building typology and the distribution system has remained the same for the past 50 years.    How can we rethink the food industry and distribution of goods in the future?

Hypothesis

Mercabarna becomes a food production space instead of a market and the delivery system of the goods produced will no longer need visitors or trucks to be picked up, in order to maximize national production, minimize international import and most importantly, improve the delivery system of goods.

How to change the existing production and distribution systems?

Production of goods and energy:

Indoor and outdoor food farming

Food production capacity per production area

Energy produced by solar panels on 90% of market roof

Distribution of goods (packaging and drone delivery):

50 000 square meter of free space after removing 930 truck park

25 meter width of building extension is used for packaging the goods, place them in standard packages and placed in shelves for pick-up

Three drone towers per hangar, with each hangar the capacity to store and charge 660 drones. Air Franca 3.0 drones pick up the packages from the building façade

Final vision for 2050

Produbarna is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
developed at Master in City & Technology in (2018/2019) by:
Students: Sarine Bekarian, Haining Zhou
Faculty: Willy Müller, Jordi Vivaldi