FRESH VEGETABLES BY THE SEA

The West Side Market in Cleveland is an example of venerable architecture (see Norm Roulet's gallery of photos on Real Neo a few weeks back here http://realneo.us/page/realneo-knows-and-loves-west-side-market-best-in-world [1]) which continues to vigorously continue its intended use because of its original designer’s  keen attention to form following function.   Even though the delivery of the produce is now done with  pallets handled by fork lift trucks (fork lift trucks didn’t exist when the Market was constructed), the excellent pedestrian access, floor wash-down gutters, durable glazed brick and tile surfaces, and airy “kiosks within a building” interior space, and the exterior long vegetable aisles with their garage door access behind the vendors – really work well.

The fact that the West Side Market is still working efficiently is a testament to its designers and builders.  Most of today’s buildings are of the throw away kind – put ‘em up, rip ‘em down in 10 – 20 years.  Just the opposite of “sustainable”.

The photo above is of a quayside fresh market in the capitol of Bonaire, one of the three islands in the Dutch West Indies.  Our family visited the island a few years ago and we bought fruits we knew, and many with which we were unfamiliar.  Because Bonaire is exceptionally arid, almost all the produce comes over by small boat from Venezuela – and when the boats go back they have plastic 55 gallon drums which they fill with seawater and put down in the hold for stabilizing ballast.  This market place is almost the only source of fresh vegetables on the island so all the restaurants and town's people shop here.

Though a smaller building overall, the scale of the arches, and the concrete and tile building materials have much in common with the West Side Market – don’t you think?  Anyway,  it is a  nice  counterpoint  to late  winter in  NEO!