Architectures of Display: Department Stores and Modern Retail (Routledge Research in Interior Design)

Architectures of Display is an important and welcome addition to the scholarship of interiors, retailing, and consumption. The rather neglected topic of merchandising displays is examined through international examples ranging from Victorian and later model rooms to contemporary digital fashion retailing. The fascinating case studies in the volume, not only engage with particular historic moments in retail design, but as a volume emphasize the crucial importance of the visual when engaging with consumers. Clive Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Design History, Loughborough University, UK

Recounting the ways that show-window designers have piqued consumer desire, Architectures of Display reveals a major portal through which modernity entered everyday life. Covering more than a century of practice with detailed case studies, it suggests the breadth of approaches to retail presentations as well as their shared goal of creating visual narratives that shape our relationships with material objects. In doing so, Architectures of Display provides an historical perspective on our current era of unrelenting self-presentation. Sandy Isenstadt, Professor of History of Modern Architecture, University of Delaware, USA

In its interrogation of the architecture of display, and display as integral to architecture's cultural impact, this collection moves far beyond conventional studies of consumption. Its contributions are multiple and compelling: it situates the emergence of the display window and the department store within an expanded history of architecture's material effects; it argues that techniques and technologies of display have been at the core of artistic experimentation; and it shows that the arrangement of consumer goods is nothing if not political. Charles Rice, School of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Generously illustrated and historically adventurous, Architectures of Display is a scintillating exploration of how wealthy societies have been seduced by a world of commercial retailing. By concentrating on the dazzling and inventive theatrics of department stores this volume is an essential guide to the aesthetics of commodity culture. It is highly recommended to anyone wanting to understand our love affair with things. Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, UK