Designing the Department Store

Emily Marshall Orr is Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary American Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, USA.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroductionGeographical and Historical ContextContributing to the History of the Department StoreChapter One: Retail Architecture The Visibility of Constructionand RenovationThe Changeable Design of the StorefrontArchitectural Display as CompetitionTechnical Scope as a Show FeatureChapter Two: Window DisplayProfessional DevelopmentMaking Window DisplaysStocky StyleDraping Techniques and the Female GazeSculptural StyleMachinery of DisplayThe Unit PrincipleChapter Three: The Shopfitting IndustrySilent SalesmanshipScience of ShopkeepingThe Shopfitting Industry and Exhibition CultureFrom Density to OpennessChapter Four: The Department Store InteriorSeasonalityA Great Decoration EventVirtual Travel via DisplayThe Model Room: An Interior of InteriorsProfessional DevelopmentConclusionThe Modern DisplaymanIn SummaryBibliography

In Designing the Department Store, Emily M. Orr reveals how art and commerce developed in tandem throughout the 19th century, in response to the era’s World Fairs and the growing influence of design reform. Orr demonstrates the depth of this convergence, and highlights the common roots that department stores and art museums share.