At Rotterdam’s historic Binnenrotte Square, next to Blaak Station, is an eleven-stories-tall arched building that huddles over an immense food market on the ground floor. The arched building is also habitable and contains over two hundred apartments, with each unit equipped with either a window looking out into the market or a glass square in the floor so residents can look down into the bustling venue below. The exterior facade of the building is clad in grey natural stone, the same is used for the surrounding public space. But the ends are closed with glass panels to keep rain and the cold out. The vaulted ceiling of the market is adorned with gigantic murals of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, that some have likened to the Sistine Chapel.

Photo credit: Ossip Van Duivenbode