FOLA, Carson, California

A shopping center developer asked us to do a conceptual design for a new outlet mall at the periphery of Los Angeles. We began the process by asking ourselves why, given the appeal of online shopping, shoppers are still attracted to physical retail environments. Our conclusion… because shopping is fundamentally a social activity. To address this we created a variety of richly programmed open courtyards containing anchor stores, entertainment and cultural amenities for people to gather, eat and people watch, and to motivate shoppers to explore other areas of the project.