This work focuses on the closure and regeneration of the historic Dublin City Fruit, Vegetable & Flower Market on Mary’s Lane, Dublin 7. The Victorian building opened in 1892, and the revival will focus on meeting the changing needs of residents and discerning urban inhabitants, tourists, and food industry specialists. Urban renewal motivations in the broader area have enticed new residential and commercial growth, reversing population losses. Despite facing social and economic problems, the senior, more established communities have a strong sense of identity, with active community organisations and clubs in the area. Councillors have raised concerns over the potential ‘gentrification’ of the site and fear its character will be forever lost.

While exploring the market space, I was drawn to the materiality of found objects from everyday life. I chose the wooden pallet as a symbolic representation of the working class and gentrification, experimenting with the common materials to suggest the effects of modernisation and how it tends to atrophy experiences of locality and memory. The pallet is removed from its manufactured role, and traces of the object’s previous purpose remain; its original meaning and identity have changed with time and transformation.