Mindelo Fish Market
MINDELO – CAPE VERDE
Rehabilitation and modernization of a coastal urban facility
The rehabilitation and modernization project of the Mindelo Fish Market is set within an urban, social, and landscape context of great significance for the city of Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. Located along the waterfront of Porto Grande Bay, the market occupies a strategic position in the city’s historic relationship with the sea, fishing activities, and the construction of its cultural, economic, and symbolic identity.
More than a supply facility, the Fish Market constitutes a space of gathering, work, and cultural expression, deeply connected to the city’s daily life and to Mindelo’s collective memory. Its proximity to the Sea Museum, to Avenida Marginal, and to the emblematic landscape of the bay — marked by the presence of Monte Cara and by the intense visual relationship with the ocean — gives the ensemble a unique character, where architecture, landscape, and urban life are inextricably intertwined.
The project begins with the recognition of the physical, functional, and sanitary shortcomings of the existing market, currently characterized by deteriorated infrastructure, inadequate circulation flows, conflicts between formal and informal uses, and the absence of technical conditions compatible with good food hygiene practices. At the same time, it identifies and enhances the site’s potential: its urban centrality, its symbolic strength, its direct relationship with the sea, and its structuring role in the local social and economic dynamics.
The architectural proposal is based on the premise of the comprehensive rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure, preserving elements of greatest historical and identity value, such as the façade facing Avenida Marginal and the maritime-themed tile panels, integrating them into a new contemporary, functional spatial configuration suited to current demands. The preservation of these elements is not treated as a merely formal gesture, but as part of a strategy to ensure continuity of memory and to strengthen the market’s identity as a living urban heritage site.
Formally, the project is organized around a single volume whose layout and design engage directly with the coastal landscape. The building’s floor plan evokes the bow of a vessel, opening at different angles toward the bay and allowing multiple visual connections between the interior of the market, the sea, and the city. This choice symbolically reinforces the maritime vocation of the site and establishes a clear architectural reading, easily recognizable within the urban landscape.
In section, the building articulates two distinct and complementary spatial moments. The first corresponds to a large, double-height area, more open and permeable, dedicated to the market’s core activities — fish sales — forming a spacious, well-ventilated environment visually connected to its surroundings. This structured void, defined essentially by columns and sales stalls, gives prominence to the commercial activity and enhances orientation, circulation flow, and the users’ spatial experience.
The second moment consists of a more compact, two-story volume that concentrates technical, support, and processing functions, such as evisceration areas, cold storage rooms, storage areas, changing rooms, restrooms, administrative offices, and worker support spaces. This organization rationalizes the structural system, optimizes internal operations, and ensures a clear separation between clean and dirty flows, meeting the market’s sanitary and operational requirements.
The roof plays a fundamental role in defining the architectural identity of the ensemble. Its design incorporates movements that refer both to the geometric patterns of panos di terra, traditional in Cape Verdean culture, and to the typology of gable roofs widely present in local architecture. Beyond its symbolic character, the roof contributes to the building’s environmental comfort by promoting shading, natural ventilation, and protection against the intense solar exposure characteristic of the region’s climate
The project establishes a direct and qualified relationship with the public space and the waterfront. The fish landing and loading pier, an essential element for the market’s operation, is fully upgraded and integrated into a broader urban and landscape design for the seafront. Built in concrete and designed to ensure accessibility and safety, the new pier responds both to the operational needs of the fishing activity and to public use, allowing residents and visitors to engage more closely with the dynamics of the market and the landscape of the bay.
In addition to maritime access, the project clearly organizes land access, with parking and loading/unloading areas positioned laterally, ensuring the efficient operation of the market without compromising the quality of public spaces. From these arrival points, internal circulation flows are carefully designed to prevent inappropriate crossings between fish products, workers, and the public, ensuring proper sanitary conditions and improving the overall user experience of the building.
The proposal goes beyond the strictly functional dimension of the market, expanding its urban and social role. The project incorporates areas for staying, social interaction spaces, and contemplation zones oriented toward the bay, recognizing the market as a potential catalyst for cultural, touristic, and community activities. In this way, the Fish Market ceases to be an exclusively utilitarian space and asserts itself as a multifunctional urban facility, capable of strengthening Mindelo’s historic center and enhancing its attractiveness.
From a material and constructive standpoint, the project adopts durable solutions suited to the marine environment, taking into account the effects of salt, humidity, and wind. Basalt stone cladding, ceramic surfaces, resistant flooring, and robust construction systems are combined with passive environmental comfort strategies, aiming to reduce maintenance requirements and ensure greater longevity for the building.
In its social dimension, the project acknowledges the central role of women fish vendors, fish processors, and fishermen, valuing their activities and proposing more dignified, safe, and appropriate working spaces. The market’s rehabilitation is understood as an opportunity to strengthen local economies, promote good sanitary practices, and create better conditions for the human and professional development of those involved in the fishing chain.
Thus, the Mindelo Fish Market project proposes a transformation that goes beyond the physical rehabilitation of the building. It presents itself as an integrated strategy for heritage enhancement, public space qualification, and reinforcement of the historic relationship between the city, the sea, and its communities. A contemporary, functional, and resilient market that respects its memory while projecting new possibilities for Mindelo’s urban and social future.
