13 St Flea Market
San Rafael, California


The Canal District of San Rafael is constituted of a large recently migrant Hispanic population - around 60% - within the last 10 years. Calle 3 Flea Market will serve as an ESL (English as a Second Language) Flea Market Space where the community can come together and use the space to further expand their exposure to the English Language.

ESL is a program used in many schools throughout the US to support and help non-english speakers to transition and learn the language. ESL Flea Market, would apply this same model but in a more hands-on approach where english classes will be given in the form of workshops, these workshops will include repurposing of goods, such as old furniture to sewing classes and other activities. Calle 3 would function through a series of partnerships (perhaps Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.) to receive donations.

Calle 3 Flea Market also provides outdoor and indoor (for rainy days) space for the community to sell their goods on scheduled days. Lastly, Calle 3 will also serve as a resilience center given the current climate in the Bay Area.



SITE BACKGROUND

Marin County’s Canal District is located in San Rafael, CA. The district is comprised of two neighborhoods in the central part of the city, surrounded by the San Francisco Bay, the San Rafael Canal, and by the 101 Highway.

    The area provides much of Marin’s low-income housing, including large apartment buildings, condominium complexes, townhouses, and duplexes. It is also home to most of the county’s older industrial and newer light industry jobs, providing over 15% of the jobs in the San Rafael area.

    But over time, waves of immigrants who ended up in Marin were attracted to the low-income housing and the low-wage service jobs in the area. Many refugees of the Vietnam War from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia settled in the area during the 1960s, and the 1980s brought immigrants from Central America who had fled civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. Over the span of a couple of decades, the Canal District went from housing young couples and college grads to becoming a distinct immigrant neighborhood

Northeast to the site there is a large area of residential houses, west of the site many grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are nearby. South of the site is the harbor, this creates a lot of focus given that the City of San Rafael want to reactivate the harbor with protected pedestrian circulation and finally north of the site is a large high school that will impact the occupancy and usage of the building proposed on the site.




DESIGN INTENT DIAGRAMS



FACADE PALETTE & DETAILS


                                                                                             


FACADE COLOR INSPIRATION
Color palette gathered from Moroccan Flea Market color styles not only seen in facades
but also in baskets, chairs, carpets, and other surroundings.


FACADE PRECEDENT
Diagonal 197
Barcelona, Spain 
Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos +
David Chipperfield Architects

2008
http://b720.com/portfolio/oficinas-diagonal-197/

FACADE ASSEMBLY DETAILS


NORTH/SOUTH ELEVATION



SUSTAINABILITY DIAGRAM



FLOOR PLANS





SECTIONS










RENDERS





CAROLINA AGUILAR, PORTAFOLIO 2023 | AUSTIN, TX 78723 | ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48105 |  BERKELEY, CALIF. 94704