Food halls have proliferated to the point of almost annoying ubiquity. But in Italy, a new food hall has a higher mission: to mend a community that experienced a catastrophic earthquake.
In August 2016, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Amatrice–a town and province in central Italy, about 85 miles northeast or Rome–killing over 240 people. Much of the city was reduced to rubble and one year later, only 10% of the damage has been removed. But recovering after a disaster isn’t only about repairing and reconstructing structures; it’s also about rebuilding social ties and giving residents an avenue to get back on their feet economically.
The town’s mayor decided that the first buildings to be rebuilt after the earthquake should help the residents get back to their day-to-day lives and give them a reason to stay in the town rather than move elsewhere. In Amatrice, a popular tourist destination known for its food culture, that meant restaurants. Using money raised from private donations, the city commissioned architect Stefano Boeri to build a new town square surrounded by a school and eight restaurants.
The city chose business owners whose original restaurants were completely destroyed to occupy the new spaces, and Boeri worked closely with them to customize the interiors. Some wanted the kitchens configured in a specific way, some wanted outdoor seating, some were happy with indoor seating alone.
“From the beginning, I was trying to construct something absolutely urban,” Boeri says.
The buildings feature expansive glass walls which visually connect all of the people who are dining in the restaurants, sitting in the public square, or taking in the public events hosted in the square. While the experience within the food village is defined by architecture, Boeri made sure that the buildings “never canceled the horizon and the panorama of the mountains,” he says.
Now, all of the restaurants are open for business and some serve over 300 customers a day. Tourists are back in the region, which is helping the economy recover–all thanks to a food hall.