RIKEA.
Community Project, Flea Market Turin, Italy.

RIKEA is a prototype for a micro-urban infrastructure conceived for the Ballon flea market in Porta Palazzo, Turin. The project frames the market as a condition of “instant urbanization,” emerging temporarily through use, occupation, and shared spatial rules.

The Ballon is a weekly flea market taking place every Saturday morning and is considered one of the most economically fragile markets in Europe. The project was developed following a competition launched by the Italian magazine Abitare, directed by Stefano Boeri, focused on Geodesign. The competition asked designers to connect communities, companies, and institutions in order to address concrete urban challenges. The project was later exhibited at Pala Fuksas in 2008.

Through direct collaboration with the merchant community, the project identified three primary needs:
– marking individual merchant positions on the pavement;
– providing temporary roof structures to protect goods from weather conditions;
– enabling the secure transfer of goods from parking areas to market positions during setup.

RIKEA proposed a single integrated system combining all three needs into a modular micro-infrastructure. The system consisted of pavement tiles—developed with Italcementi—to define and personalize merchant positions within public space. These tiles were designed to support temporary structural elements using IKEA’s Broder system to create lightweight shelters. In parallel, the foldable Svingen sofa (IKEA) was adapted to function as a trolley for transporting goods and displaying them during market hours.

Developed collaboratively with merchants, RIKEA demonstrates how mass-produced components can be reconfigured into situational urban infrastructure. The project received a special mention at the exhibition Squat City during the 4th Rotterdam Architecture Biennale in 2009.

Displace - The project displaces urban infrastructure from permanent, centralized systems to temporary, use-based configurations emerging through occupation and need.

Expose - RIKEA exposes the informal spatial logic of the flea market, making visible its underlying organizational, logistical, and social structures.

Mediate - The project mediates between merchants, designers, and industrial partners, translating local practices into adaptable systems using existing industrial components.

Activate - RIKEA activates the flea market community by providing tools that enable merchants to self-organize, construct, and manage their spatial environment collectively.