Ink Ink Market is a three-storey market located within the residential neighbourhood of the former Tiantong‘an Railway Station in Shanghai. Inspired by the spatial qualities of the city’s historic laneways, the design reinterprets sloped roofs and dormer windows through a modern, lightweight, translucent form. Positioned at a prominent crossroad, a covered piazza extends the building into the public realm, serving as a threshold for daily rituals and community gathering.

A translucent PTFE skin wraps the roof planes, softening daylight while enhancing environmental performance, and glowing at night to animate the street. Balconies shift in and out of shaded in-between spaces, revealing greenery and activity beyond. At the heart of the building, a sectionally stepped market hall encourages movement and interaction, with terraces and a central clock column creating a social anchor reminiscent of historic train stations.

Retail spaces range from small kiosks within the atrium to dual-aspect shops and upper-level restaurants opening onto exterior terraces. Materiality and craft, from timber trellises to mosaics and marble, reference Shanghai’s grand public halls. Ink Ink Market proposes a flexible, socially driven model for contemporary retail, rooted in cultural context, place and urban life.

Photography: Wen Studio