Potato vendors pose for a picture at a government-sanctioned feria libre in the Huachuraba neighborhood of Santiago, Chile. Credit: Jennifer Renteria

Intro Post by Jennifer Renteria

This last summer, I traveled throughout Latin America in search of public markets and street vendors with the help of the USC School of Architecture and William and Neoma Timme Fellowship. By observing and documenting public market and street vending typologies in Latin America, my research focused on furthering the understanding of relationships between formal design and the “ephemeral,” often informal, and contentious practice of street vending. Based on my research methodology, which includes textual, photographic, and drawn documentation, as well as interviews with professors, practitioners, city officials, vendors and local community members, I will provide profiles and analysis of each city over the course of the next several months. However, to begin, I am presenting an introduction to my overall experience and takeaways.

Pablo, a jeweler who has sold at the La Boca feria for more than 15 years, fixes a watch behind his self-designed stand and workstation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Credit: Jennifer Renteria

Approximately two weeks were spent in each of the following cities: Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Lima, Peru; and Mexico City, Mexico. Although I stayed for a short period of time in each city, the local contacts and visits — ranging from small neighborhood fairs to lesser-known late-night/pre-dawn multi-block markets — allowed me to get a solid and unique overview of how public markets and street vendors are perceived and dealt with in each city. These visitations included the occasional rush of adrenaline provoked by unanticipated dangers (like slippery, muddy puddles) and humorous and entertaining revelations of local identity (such as the ever-present, fully-dressed, seemingly homeless dog).

The Ferinha da Madrugada, held every morning from Monday to Saturday beginning at 3 a.m., begins to see its end as the sun rises and the clock nears 7 a.m. in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Credit: Jennifer Renteria

As might be expected, my efforts took me to others who had done similar studies on specific sites, also using multimedia tools and also raising the question– where does the designer fit in this picture? — a question for which I still struggle to find a concrete and direct answer. Let me expand. In certain scenarios, it seemed that the designer could easily contribute by providing guidelines to uniformly designed, government sponsored, neighborhood markets. In other cases, though, such as in large, illegal markets found within informal settlements, a designer’s efforts, however well intentioned and dedicated as they may be, appeared less impactful. This became especially evident Read More…