Winners Announced in Strip Mall Redesign Contest

The grand prize winner is architecture firm MOS of New Haven, Connecticut.

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 10/13/2008

Merit Award Winner, Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle, Washington

The Phoenix Metropolitan area is swathed in a post-war design trend many consider a blemish on the suburban landscape: the strip mall. Surveying the global architecture community, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) launched a competition in late 2007 to redesign these now aging, dilapidated shopping pavilions. Winners of the Flip a Strip competition were announced on October 4.


1st Award of Excellence Winner, MOS, New Haven, Connecticut

Entrants were asked to submit designs giving urban facelifts to one of three rundown strip malls in the Phoenix Metro area. Entries were screened for economic viability by a technical jury of area developers and urban planners and then narrowed down to 15 designs by a national design jury.


2nd Award of Excellence Winner, AEDS, New Orleans, Louisiana

On Saturday evening, SMoCA presented the First Award of Excellence to MOS of New Haven, Connecticut for Urban Battery, the redesign of the proposed Scottsdale strip mall. Not far behind, second place was awarded AEDS of New Orleans, Louisiana for their Un-strip proposal for the same site. Third prize went to Aptum Architecture of Zurich and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois for Flipping the Strip, a redesign based on the proposed Tempe strip mall.


3rd Award of Excellence Winner, Aptum Architecture, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and Zurich, Switzerland

An exhibition highlighting the 10 finalists is on display at SMoCA now through January 18, 2009. Showcased projects address issues such as parking, energy, and recycling, and innovative concepts include sustainable agriculture in an urban setting.


Merit Award Winner, cityLAB/Roger Sherman Architecture & Urban Design, Santa Monica, California

For a complete list of winners, please visit Flip a Strip.

All renderings courtesy of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.