Competition coupled with an exhibition aimed at fostering creative, new ideas for the reinvigoration/reuse of the small-scale strip shopping plazas.
In oversupply yet vastly underused, strip plazas from a generation ago define the streetscapes of many towns. Many are dilapidated eyesores. Yet many are home to small restaurants, sole proprietorships and mom-and-pop businesses that can be wonderfully unique, entrepreneurial concerns, highly responsive to community needs. Strip malls breed strange and wonderful bedfellows (a yoga studio next to pet grooming next to a mattress store, for example), yet are plagued by interspersed vacant storefronts and generic design. With ample parking and adjacent to thriving neighborhoods, these strip malls have great potential for adaptive re-use and architectural upgrades. They are an undervalued and neglected building stock. This competition will look at options for making strip malls economically viable, aesthetic interesting and communally meaningful.
Participants can select one model site from among three sites that have been submitted by city planners from the municipalities of Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona. Detailed information will soon be posted on the web site.
The goal of the competition is to generate ideas that better the quality of civic life.

Participating teams must be led by an architect with at least five years professional experience.

www.flipastrip.org