Future Market: Urban Farming Architecture Reimagines Taipei's Historic Xinfu Market

As cities become denser and digital lifestyles reshape the way people live, urban farming architecture is emerging as a powerful strategy for reconnecting communities with food production and sustainable living. Future Market presents a visionary proposal that transforms Taipei's historic Xinfu Market into a vertical urban ecosystem where agriculture, commerce, education, and public life coexist.

Designed by EnLai Tong from the National University of Singapore, School of Design and Environment, this project received the Editor's Choice Award in CityScraper 2020. Rather than replacing the market's historical identity, the proposal elevates it into a contemporary mixed-use landmark that preserves collective memory while introducing new possibilities for urban resilience.

Reimagining the Traditional Market Through Urban Farming Architecture

The Xinfu Market has long served as an important social and cultural gathering place within Taipei. However, rapid urbanization and changing commercial habits have gradually reduced the vitality of many traditional marketplaces.

Future Market responds by asking a simple but important question:

How can architecture revive an aging market while preparing it for a digital and sustainable future?

Instead of treating the market as a single commercial building, the project transforms it into a multi-layered vertical community where food production, education, cultural exchange, and commerce operate together. The concept creates an ecosystem that extends the traditional market experience throughout an entire tower.

A Vertical Community Rooted in Food

The design revolves around the idea of the urban farm.

Rather than separating agriculture from city life, the building integrates farming into everyday public experiences. Outdoor terraces, green walls, rooftop gardens, and stepped landscapes allow vegetation to become part of circulation, recreation, and learning.

Residents and visitors can experience every stage of the food cycle, from cultivation and harvesting to cooking, education, and distribution. This continuous relationship between people and food transforms the market into a living educational environment instead of simply a place for transactions.

Architecture Inspired by Community Connections

The tower is organized into volumes of varying sizes connected by terraces, bridges, and outdoor ramps. These elevated public spaces create visual continuity between different floors while encouraging spontaneous interaction.

Instead of relying solely on enclosed corridors, circulation becomes an architectural experience where people move through gardens, open platforms, and shaded communal spaces overlooking the city.

This layered organization strengthens the connection between urban life and natural landscapes while providing diverse environments for different community activities.

Revitalizing Taipei's Xinfu Market

Located within an existing community district in Taipei, the project carefully responds to its surrounding context.

The original Xinfu vegetable market, nearby cultural square, and traditional food streets become the foundation of the proposal. Rather than erasing the site's history, the design seeks to preserve its identity by expanding its role within contemporary urban life.

The market evolves into a civic destination where local residents, tourists, farmers, students, and entrepreneurs can interact through food-related programs and shared public spaces.

Program That Supports the Entire Food Ecosystem

Future Market extends well beyond retail.

Its program combines:

• Urban farming spaces
• Food distribution areas
• Culinary education
• Community kitchens
• Dining spaces
• Exhibition galleries
• Information platforms
• Digital management systems
• Agricultural research
• Community gathering spaces

This diverse program creates a complete ecosystem where production, learning, commerce, and recreation reinforce one another.

Sustainable Design Through Passive Environmental Strategies

Environmental performance plays a central role throughout the project.

The building incorporates numerous passive design strategies, including:

• Vertical green walls
• Natural cross ventilation
• Rainwater harvesting
• Solar-responsive massing
• Outdoor terraces
• Daylight optimization
• Integrated vegetation
• Passive cooling strategies

Environmental analysis informed the tower's orientation to maximize natural ventilation and sunlight while minimizing heat gain. Green façades further improve thermal performance and establish the building as a visible landmark within Taipei's urban skyline.

Structural Design Supporting Open Public Space

The structural concept emphasizes a north-to-south core arrangement that maximizes open corner spaces throughout the tower.

By concentrating structural support within the central core, large outdoor terraces become possible across multiple levels. These terraces not only improve environmental performance but also create valuable public spaces where agriculture and community activities intersect.

This flexible structural system allows future adaptation as the needs of the neighborhood continue to evolve.

Architecture Designed for Long-Term Adaptability

One of the project's strongest qualities is its emphasis on future flexibility.

Rather than creating a rigid commercial building, Future Market proposes modular spatial blocks that can accommodate changing community demands over time. As technologies, food systems, and urban lifestyles evolve, the building can introduce new programs without losing its original identity.

This long-term adaptability makes the project a resilient model for sustainable urban development.

Digital Lifestyle Meets Traditional Community

The proposal recognizes that modern cities increasingly depend on digital infrastructure.

Information platforms, intelligent management systems, cloud-based services, and digital communication are integrated alongside physical market functions. These technologies improve logistics and accessibility while maintaining the social atmosphere that has historically defined traditional marketplaces.

Instead of replacing human interaction, digital systems enhance connections between producers, consumers, and the wider community.

A New Vision for Urban Farming Architecture

Future Market demonstrates how urban farming architecture can transform existing city infrastructure into vibrant public destinations.

By combining agriculture, sustainability, public space, and digital innovation, the project offers a compelling alternative to conventional high-rise development. It shows that future skyscrapers can produce food, strengthen communities, educate citizens, and preserve cultural heritage simultaneously.

Through its thoughtful integration of landscape, architecture, and urban life, Future Market redefines what a modern marketplace can become, creating a sustainable vertical neighborhood rooted in both history and innovation.

Project:Cityscraper- Future Market

The Reconstruction of Xinfu Market Based on Digital Lifestyle

Designed by: EnLai Tong

Institution: National University of Singapore, School of Design and Environment

Recognition: Editor's Choice Entry, CityScraper 2020