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Showcase Stair | Retail

application

In retail store design a Showcase Stair is often the most significant architectural element. It affords a high degree of visual access. In some cases, the stair also becomes an iconic symbol of the store's brand or location.

research

Showcase Stair has been identified in the apartment, house, and hotel practice types, and the previous study of retail.1 In apartment and hotel lobbies it functions as a featured architectural element, providing visual access to areas above much like it does in retail. Within individual apartments and homes, Showcase Stair also becomes a status symbol, referencing the grand stairs often found in the foyers of palatial estates. In retail applications the Intype has the additional function of attracting customers to explore floors that may be above or below the store's ground level. Showcase Stair then becomes a strategy for emphasizing circulation to additional sales areas.2 The forms and styles of the stairs are diverse. Form can be characterized as either straight-run or helical stairs, or various combinations of the two, while detailing spans from elaborate ornamentation to stark minimalism. 

Stairs, both straight and helical, have been around since Biblical times and ancient Egyptian civilization.3 Especially in ancient societies, stairs were associated with leading to somewhere important or even sacred, further justifying the allure associated with climbing a Showcase Stair.4 Throughout history, "stairs [have served] many roles in addition to their prosthetic function. These roles may modify or even dominate completely the mundane purposes of safe, comfortable, and convenient ascent and descent. The stair has always been used...to demonstrate secular power and authority, prestige and status; for aesthetic, architectural and spatial manipulation...Stairs convey meanings and have personalities."5

This longstanding tendency to embed meaning and personality within the functional aspects of a stair speaks to the use of Showcase Stair in retail. Andrea Palladio noted that "a flight of stairs will always ‘invite people to go up.'"6 Taking advantage of their inviting nature, buildings throughout both the Renaissance and Baroque periods were characterized by open, internal grand staircases.7

The grand stair was a dominant means for exhibiting grandeur and power in imperial architecture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.8 By the late nineteenth century grand staircases were starting to become commonplace in other programs, including museums, universities, private homes and theaters.9 It was during this time that the grand stair was cemented as a typology for opera house interiors with Charles Garnier's design for the Paris Opéra in 1875.10 Garnier "realized that it was possible to intensify the architectonic grandeur of the foyer and still serve the functional needs of a great crowd of opera patrons. This might seem to us to be an obvious solution, but it was a major contribution to nineteenth-century theater design and became the model. His staircase is the architectural as well as spatial center of the building."11

In the case of the opera house, the grand stair not only functioned for circulation and grandeur, but introduced the important notion of "seeing and being scene" in a social context. The Paris Opéra's use of Showcase Stair set a precedent for the stair as an architectural element becoming part of typology of a particular building type, much like the stair will later play a significant role in retail interiors, if in a less widespread fashion. The opera house also set the precedent for stairs to act as interior spaces in their own right.

Several decades earlier, the Crystal Palace had featured a staircase in a precursor to Showcase Stair's application in retail interiors. The innovative cast iron and glass building was designed to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The exhibition was a demonstration of spectacle on many levels, showcasing technology, industry, architecture, culture, and a Showcase Stair. "It is a building whose raison d'être is spectacle: an umbrella over 100,000 exhibits, uniting a larger crowd of mankind that has ever congregated together for any secular purpose; and in this building with no purpose other than to gaze. From Paxton's optical instruments on the galleries, to the double helical iron stair of Langley Banks designed essentially as a panopticon viewpoint...from layers of galleries and great perspectives, the essence is in the multitude of objects, the seething of waves of the crowd that disappear into the distance."12

The spiral stair became part of the spectacle, facilitating an alternative perspective for taking in the exhibition. The Crystal Palace's association with retail can be found in the way that the strolling and gazing at objects displayed at the exhibition foreshadowed the eventual strolling, gazing and ultimate purchasing associated with department stores. Many would agree that "the era of the consumer [opened] at Crystal Palace."13 The pairing of Showcase Stair with the infant phase of modern consumerism provided an easy transition for the Intype to make its way into retail.

Showcase Stair made its early appearances in retail in the department stores of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Department stores were not intended to be a primary focus of this study, however they have played an instrumental role in the historical development of several of the retail interior archetypes, Showcase Stair included. Therefore they have been included as supplementary evidence, as they are crucial for understanding the context of certain Intypes. Gustave Eifflel, famous for his Eiffel Tower, was involved in the design of the interior of Bon Marché, often considered the first department store.14 It is interesting to note Eiffel's dual involvement in the creation of an iconic monument marking the entrance to the World's Fair of 1889 in Paris as well as the beginnings of the extravagant grand stairs adopted by department stores. Stairs, ladders, and an elevator provided access to the Eiffel Tower's three platforms, originally featuring restaurants, shops, and a theater.15 Although its primary function was as a monument, the parallel between Eiffel's involvement in an iron tower that enabled climbing to new heights and his assistance with design of the interior and grand stairs in a prominent department store is fascinating. The Eiffel Tower and the grand staircase both share the theme of spectacle, glorifying and paying homage to the ritual of climbing to an elevated place.

The advent of the department store had pivotal social implications, with the Showcase Stair being one of the key interior elements influencing changes in the nature of shopping. Department stores like Bon Marché provided the middle class with affordable goods sold in an atmosphere that evoked the elegance associated with the specialty shops the upper class patronized. For example, "for the first time, the middle class experienced shopping as amusement, one that permitted them to benefit from services, such as doormen and porters, that once were reserved solely for the elite."16 In addition to affordable product, carefully curated displays and catered customer service, many department stores were located in palace-like downtown buildings complete with palatial grand stairs luring customers to the stores' upper floors."In the early days of department stores...they tended to adopt the Old World style and elegance of Parisian department stores. Often their buildings had decorative Italianate fronts, some of cast iron painted white, and mansard roofs. Interiors featured rotundas bordered by columned galleries linked by wide staircases...Broad stairways with ornamental railings, leading majestically from the first floor to the second or the mezzanine, were a striking architectural feature in most nineteenth-century stores."17

European and American department stores alike featured palace-like interiors with central grand stairs.18 The staircases were oftentimes paired with expansive, light-flooded atriums that provided customers with views of the multiple floors above.19 By the early 20th century, grand staircases had become entrenched in the department store typology, creating elegant interiors that allowed the middle class to partake in an upper class shopping experience.

Between a shift in thinking about retail interiors and the increasing use of elevators and escalator, the Showcase Stair's position as a dominant architectural feature in department stores was challenged around the turn of the 19th century. On one hand, many department stores were moving away from showy, elaborate interiors in favor of more neutral environments that focused all of the attention on the products for sale. Although many of the original department stores retained their traditional, elegant interiors, "the idea that the building itself should be grand and showy soon gave way to a conviction that a building should not call too much attention to itself but provide a background for its wares."20 These less extravagant interiors coupled with the need to more efficiently move customers between increasing numbers of floors deemphasized and even resulted in the disappearance of Showcase Stair in department stores.

Elevators were around since the 1860s, but they became more popular towards the end of the 19th century when rising urban property values caused department stores to expand vertically, oftentimes to four or five stories tall. With only stairs and elevators, department stores found that they were having a hard time attracting people to wander beyond the ground floor; the escalator proved to be the solution for easily moving quantities of customers between floors. Escalators first appeared in department stores in the 1890s and were commonplace by the early 20th century.21 In the midst of retailers' obsession with moving customers through the floors of their stores as efficiently as possible, many residual building elements began to disappear, the escalator rendering the old department stores' grand staircases as the "most notable casualty."22

Despite the lauded efficiency of the escalator and elevator, stairs still had meaningful purpose, for safety, functional and aesthetic reasons. The stair, and especially the Showcase Stair, remained an important architectural element throughout the 20th century, likely due to this pairing of utility and function with the potential for creative aesthetic expression.23 Contemporary department store interiors have expressed the stair or vertical movement in a variety of ways. Bergdorf Goodman (1993) featured a non-functional Showcase Stair.24 The stair did not lead to anywhere but was sculptural in nature and served as a centerpiece in the interior. In an alternative approach, Selfridge's in London (2004) opted for a series of "showcase escalators."25 The escalators crisscrossed in the atrium, forming a dynamic composition that exemplified the spirit of efficient, upward movement. In smaller, non-department store retail interiors, however, the Showcase Stair also evolved and remained prevalent: "stairs and ramps have been given a new emphasis in compositions in contrast to their decrease in importance in the general movement system."26 Building codes, too, arguably contributed to this renewed emphasis on the stair. By the end of the 20th century, ramps and elevators would be elevated to higher importance with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), mandating that equal access to upper floors be possible for all regardless of physical abilities. The combination of dedicated egress stairs for fire safety and ADA's emphasis on elevators and ramps has potentially allowed contemporary applications of Showcase Stair to become even more sculptural and precarious, since the functional focus of vertical circulation has been transferred elsewhere.

Many Modernist and the International Style architects experimented with stairs as featured interior elements in the early 20th century. Experiments with dematerialization led to stairs having innovative structures that made it difficult to comprehend how the stair was supported or structurally sound. The rectilinear nature of many Modern interiors also led to dynamic compositions, the diagonal or helical form of the stair standing out in contrast to its boxlike context.27 Le Corbusier's spiral Showcase Stair in Villa Savoye (1929-1931) is a good example of how this contrast allowed the stair to become a sculptural element in the interior. New technologies made possible by the First World War allowed for further experimentation with the stair, especially with respect to materiality. Reinforced concrete was new in 1920. Although glass staircases would not appear until later, glass as a material was being furthered at a rapid pace in the 1930s with new expansive glass façades, glass roofs and glass brick.28

In this context of experimentation, Showcase Stair appeared with frequency in non-department store retail interiors by the middle of the 20th century. Morris Lapidus, the famous hotel architect who began in retail design, featured Showcase Stair in several of his retail interiors in the 1940 and 1950 decades. Lapidus' rationale for emphasizing the stairs becomes apparent in reading this description of his use of Showcase Stair: "The unavoidable staircase, seen free-floating from below, becomes part of room decoration. Winding staircases and landings are employed to stimulate spatial expectation. The customer makes his entrance."29 For Lapidus, the stair was a sculptural piece, contributing to the overall composition of the retail interior. The stair not only provided a visual connection between the floors of a shop, but was intended to offer a view to above that entices customers into proceeding to the upper floors. Finally, the stair became a sort of stage, where customers were elevated and on display as they made their way up. Showcase Stair has remained a prominent design practice since the 1940s for many of the same reasons that Lapidus used it.

About the same time that Lapidus was designing retail interiors, Frank Lloyd Wright also designed a shop interior that placed emphasis on vertical circulation. Wright's alternative approach to vertical circulation is not technically an example of Showcase Stair, but is useful for offering perspective when considering the Intype. The interior of the V.C. Morris Gift Shop, built in San Francisco in 1949, contained a ramp that encircled the main, double-height sales floor and led up to the second floor.30 Wright used a similar perimeter ramp to define interior space on a much larger scale in the Guggenheim Museum in New York.31 Although the museum was built after the Morris Gift Shop, Wright had already conceived of and produced drawings for the Guggenheim when he designed the shop.32 Most of the gift shop's product was displayed on either of the two floors, but some products were featured in circular niches placed at eye-level along the ramp. The "Showcase Ramp" was a key architectural expression in the space. By wrapping the circulation around the perimeter of the shop rather than locating it centrally, the ramp acted an inverse of Showcase Stair. Despite being inverted, the ramp provided an intense visual connection between above and below, garnered interest in what was above, and highlighted customers as they process up the ramp in much the same way a central grand stair would. While in one sense the showcase ramp made a spectacle of vertical circulation, some have argued that the ramp disappeared into the perimeter of the shop.33 Regardless of whether it functioned as a featured element or faded into the background, Wright's exploration of vertical circulation contributed to the consideration for upward movement in retail interiors.

Although Showcase Stair remained in constant use throughout the 20th century, the Intype played an interesting role in the trend towards minimalist retail interiors. When minimalist, White Box retail interiors came into vogue in the 1980s and 1990s, the staircase was a favored architectural element that was often emphasized and highly detailed, even if in a minimalist fashion. "With the 1980s began a Golden Age of retail architecture... retail fashion saw a relatively homogenous phase of construction and reconstruction, marked by the same ‘fig-leaf' aesthetic. The shops designed for Armani, Calvin Klein, and Jil Sander by Gabellini and Claudio Silverstrin all resemble each other, sharing the same orthodoxy...These architects made lack of decoration into a new genre, characterized by the central role of the staircase, the use of daylight, the valorization of traditional openings, screen-effects with glass of different textures, the use of costly, highly-polished wood, marble and metal."34 Despite having otherwise pared down interiors, the staircase was maintained as an important spatial element. The minimal interiors exaggerated the impact of Showcase Stair since the simple spaces allowed the sculptural stairs to be featured prominently and boldly in contrast.

Contemporary applications of the Showcase Stair practice represent the full range of aesthetic adornment from flamboyant, ornamented grand stairs to simply articulated, minimal sculptures. Styling aside, straight stairs visually and physically bridge floors, whether against a wall or centrally located. The diagonal form of the straight stair will always inherently draw attention to itself. The diagonal stair contradicts the horizontal and vertical planes that interior space is usually comprised of. As historian John Templer put it, "architects have always sought to understand and tame the vigorous, unruly heresy that the diagonal demonstrates within comfortable orthogonal schema."35 This "heresy" of the diagonal works to the designers' advantage in retail interiors, allowing a Showcase Stair to establish a strong visual connection between floors and provide incentive to venture upwards. When stairs are open on both sides-either straight-run or spiral stairs-they become objects in space. Helical stairs are sometimes preferred because they require less floor space than a straight run, but require more craft and skill to design and build.36 An unattached Showcase Stair of any form can function as a sculptural element and start to define a space of its own, boasting unique spatial experiences within.37 

Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language is useful for considering how stairs can exist as spaces of their own. Several of Alexander's patterns are relevant to Showcase Stair and inform how it has functioned throughout its use over time. Staircase as a Stage (Pattern 133) provides a conceptual framework for the essence of Showcase Stair: "A staircase is not just a way of getting from one floor to another. The stair itself is a space, a volume, a part of the building...a place where someone can make a graceful or dramatic entrance...People coming down the stair become part of the action in the room while they are on the stair."38

Alexander's likening of the stair to a stage is especially relevant to Showcase Stair in retail applications, given that theater and stage are often metaphors used when describing conceptual intent for contemporary retail interiors. The stage metaphor also allows the stair to transcend its status as pure architectural feature to a living space that highlights people as they move up or down the stair.

Stair Seats (Pattern 125) is a pattern more relevant to outdoor plazas or larger interior spaces, but at least one retail interior has used it. Alexander promotes stair seats as a means for people to observe the action in a space from a slight distance but within close enough proximity to still be part of the action. The stairs become a vantage point.39 While the stairs in most shops are not large enough to support or encourage lingering, Prada's SoHo store featured a multi-purpose Showcase Stair that was large enough to invite customers to linger.40 The stair spanned most of the width of the store, functioning as circulation and display during the day, and originally intended to function as seating for events held at night. Although using stairs as seating is not practical for most stores, Prada offers a rich example of the ways that Showcase Stair can support additional programmatic requirements beyond circulation.

Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York placed a Showcase Stair within a Store Vitrine in a compelling demonstration of how Showcase Stair can be used as a strategy for emphasizing the entrance to a store. Although Apple uses a glass Showcase Stair in many of its multi-level stores, the Fifth Avenue store was a unique example.41 The company took a risk in building a store entirely underground, but several key design strategies for overcoming the obstacles associated with locating a store below grade.42 The Vitrine encasing the glowing Apple logo was the first view passersby experienced, followed by a view of the glass staircase spiraling down into the store. The stair acted much like any other Showcase Stair within the store itself, but had the added task of attracting potential customers to enter the store in the first place. It is interesting to observe how the Showcase Stair not only served as a transition between levels in a store but was also used to mark the entrance to an underground store.

While many retail interiors throughout the 20th century featured applications of Showcase Stair that are reminiscent of traditional grand staircases, or highlighted the stair as prominent architectural showpieces, there have been innovative explorations of the possibilities of the Intype. From the V.C. Morris Gift Shop in the late 1940s to the more recent Prada SoHo and Fifth Avenue Apple store, many designers have experimented with the potential for pushing the boundaries of Showcase Stair beyond the grand or sculptural stair.

Chronological Sequence

In the height of the department store's grand stair, Adolf Loos' menswear store, Goldman & Salatsch (1898), demonstrated Showcase Stair's application outside of the department store.43 This stair functioned as a Showcase Stair due to its purposeful placement and monumental nature. Its location on the interior's central organizational axis resulted in a strong directional pull through the store and up to the floors above. Given the context of department store design at the turn of the 19th century, this staircase greatly resembled the department stores' archetypical use of the stair in strategy and form. Whereas the Showcase Stair in Goldman and Salatsch read much like a grand department store stair inserted in a smaller shop, experimentation with more sculptural staircases became apparent later in the 20th century.

The Barricini Candy Store (1940s) was one of several instances of Showcase Stair featured in a 1950 survey of then current retail design practice, The Specialty Shop (A Guide).44 The stair was described as graceful and ornamental, intended to be both functional and sculptural in nature. It was strategically placed within the store so that it was also visible outside from the street, allowing it to attract customers both internally and externally. Fernandez's explanation that the stair was deliberately designed to establish a vertical flow within the store in addition to being highly visible and aesthetically intriguing, suggested that the concept and strategy for Showcase Stair was present, if not by name. The author also noted the materiality of the stair, in particular the way the rail appeared to float on the plate glass balustrade. This attention to materiality reinforced that detail and craft have long been essential to Showcase Stair.

The 1940s era Joseph Magnin store provided another example of the retail interiors that Fernandez featured in his book.45 Described as the focal point of the store in plan and space, this spiral staircase was also clearly designed as a Showcase Stair. The spiral stair wrapped around a centrally located column, making it doubly efficient. This placement of the stair made the most of a structural column that otherwise would have been situated in the middle of the store. Furthermore, the helical staircase was more space efficient than a straight run stair by requiring less floor space beneath it.46 The stair created a powerful connection between the ground floor and mezzanine above, with visual access afforded to the floor above and the stair itself.

Although freestanding stairs are often more sculptural and visually compelling, applications of Showcase Stair that are affixed to a wall can be equally as effective if not as striking. The stair at George & Lester's (1952) was adjacent to a wall, but a cable balustrade supported the stair treads on their unattached ends and introduced a strong vertical element into the composition.47 The dynamic vertical expression led the eye upwards and symbolized movement up to the floor above. Showcase Stair was acknowledged as a design strategy at the time in the way that it was discussed, if not by name: "instead of being unobtrusive, [the stair was] a dominant feature of the interior."48 At that, the Intype was a popular strategy across the full spectrum of retail interiors in the middle of the 20th century, as a drugstore application was published in Architectural Record several issues after George and Lester's had been. The Patterson-Bradford Rexall Drugstore (1952) featured a glass-enclosed spiral stair that was visible from outside the store and whose treads were similarly suspended by thin cables.49

The practice of using a Showcase Stair to link a two-story shop's floors was still popular in the 1950s, appearing in both attached configurations, as in George & Lester's, and as freestanding stairs, as in Wallachs. The Wallachs (1956) menswear store's stair "[linked] the two levels in sprightly fashion."50 Atriums and double-height spaces encircled by second-floor mezzanine levels were a common technique for visually uniting a store's two floors, the Showcase Stair acting as the key physical connection between the two. The visual access to the upper floor was reinforced by the stair's commanding presence, making it impossible for customers to miss the merchandise above. The influence of the archetypal department store model had remained a dominant trend in smaller shops since the beginning of the 20th century. 

While earlier stores had experimented with transparent glass balustrades that allowed for open, airy staircases, Rosenthal (1960s) was an early example of an entirely transparent stair.51 As a store that sold artist-designed glassware and porcelain goods, the transparent Plexiglas stair was conceptually appropriate. It functioned as a Showcase Stair primarily due to its manipulation of material and strong diagonal presence in an otherwise box-like interior. In this example, the potential for Showcase Stair to also function as a strategy for spatial definition was apparent. Since the store was essentially rectangular, the stair made a strong formal statement in the space. The form of the stair served as a partition, partially enclosing the seating group pictured on the right and defining it as a smaller space within the context of an otherwise open floor plan.

Rosenthal demonstrated how a Showcase Stair could define space, but the 1960s Schwan and Böger Book Shop portrayed the way in which the practice can be used for maximizing accessible and usable space in a smaller shop.52 The metal stair and catwalks allowed the book shelves to span the entire height of the space, providing customers with easy visual and physical access to the upper shelves. It is important to recognize that a simple metal stair such as this one would not function as a Showcase Stair in all contexts, but was considered one in this instance for several reasons. Firstly, this store was essentially a box, so the diagonal of the stair broke the box and created a dynamic upward movement in an otherwise static space. Additionally, the stair's connection to and relationship with the catwalk dramatically lengthened the area in which a customer was placed on display, allowing the staircase and catwalk to truly function as a "showcase" of customers browsing around the store.

A slightly alternative type of retail interior, The Seraph (1968) was a combination boutique and interior design practice occupying an old Victorian estate in Connecticut.53 Different from more commercial applications of stairs, this interior benefitted from an existing residential Showcase Stair. This shop's use of the Intype referenced staircases characteristic to foyers of old palaces and mansions. Rather than being sculptural in nature, this stair functioned as a Showcase Stair because of its associations with the domestic stair. This connotation remained a common theme throughout the remainder of the 20th century, as many urban shops either occupy old downtown mansions or otherwise channel domestic interiors.

While Showcase Stair in many retail applications has led up from a store's ground floor, the Lincoln Memorial Bookshop (1973) is an example of a shop that instead featured a Showcase Stair leading down to a lower level.54 Unlike their ascending counterparts, the form of the downward stair was not visible from the shop's main floor. Instead, the opening for the stairway provided shoppers with the visual cue that there was something below. The use of a dogleg stair in this application piqued shoppers' curiosity by indicating that there was a floor below without affording any views into the lower floor. Another interesting detail was the way the stair was camouflaged with the rest of the interior, blending in with the blue carpeting of the floor and walls. It was only from the lower level that the stark white structural support contrasted with the blue stair, resulting in a strong architectural expression of the stair's construction.  Much of the playfulness associated with Showcase Stair in the decades to come could be attributed to architects' and designers' experimentation with the various means of expressing or dematerializing the structure of the stair.

Into the 1970 decade, department stores continued to feature Showcase Stair in addition to elevators and escalators. Bullock's Wilshire (1973) was one such department store that used Showcase Stair to link its two floors in a rather grand gesture despite also boasting a glass elevator.55 The interior was inspired by the original Bullock's Wilshire store, so the stair highlighted as a focal point within the central atrium was likely a historical reference to the traditional department store model. The dogleg stair featured a landing that served the dual purpose of vantage point for surveying the store and ceiling element for spatially defining the sales counters below.

Smaller shops continued to explore the various ways that stairs could manifest themselves in the retail interior. Historian John Templer discussed the way in which opening up a staircase heightened the spatial connection between the stairs, a space themselves, with the adjacent spaces that they connected.56 The small New York boutique, Alma (1986), dealt with a narrow urban floor plate using this strategy of opening up a Showcase Stair to the store.57 The full-height iron rod balustrade defined the stair as a space while still allowing it to feel like an integral part of the space and making the narrow store feel larger. The verticality of the iron rods dynamically guided the eye upwards in a similar fashion to George and Lester's Showcase Stair from the 1950s. By running the stair lengthwise through the store, it also established a flow through the space. Customers were first flashed a peek of the mezzanine above upon entering the store. As they proceeded to towards the back, the way in which the display below the stairwell mimicked the form of the stairs, almost becoming part of the stair, naturally led customers to the stairs.

Creeks Boutique (1986) was another small shop designed in the same year that used a single straight-run stair to unite a long, narrow store in an even more dramatic fashion.58 Sequentially connecting all of the store's three floors, the Showcase Stair exaggerated the depth of the store. The stair was detailed with small square light boxes placed on each step where the riser met the tread, guiding movement up or down the stair. The stair was further emphasized by an expansive mirror wall that spanned all three floors. A full-height mirror not only emphasized the stair by reflecting its image but linked the three floors together, made the interior appear wider than it was and supported the viewing of others (as well as the self) within the space. Designer Philippe Starck confirmed the latter point: "The staircase also serves as a series of balconies providing views to the merchandise on each level, and offers ample opportunity for that favorite Parisian pastime of seeing and being seen (as does the wall covered in mirrors, which camouflages the space's narrow width)."59

In the midst of these more modern takes on the stair, historical reverence was still present, as seen in Jean-Paul Gaultier's Parisian flagship (1986).60 The double Showcase Stair organized symmetrically around the store's central axis was classical in nature. It further referenced the stair's tradition in palaces and later department stores with the placement of a grand staircase in an atrium space. These historical references resonated with the conceptual direction for the store. The intent was to exhibit an interplay between old world and high tech, as can be seen in the TV screens within round view windows embedded within a traditional mosaic tile floor.61 The Showcase Stair certainly contributed to the "old world" aspects of the interior.

Minimalist retail interiors complete with carefully detailed yet restrained Showcase Stair started to become popular leading into the 1990s. As seen in Giorgio Armani's Beverly Hills boutique (1989), stairs were important architectural elements within otherwise somewhat neutral interiors.62 The stair was unmistakably a Showcase Stair: "How to move people upward posed the immediate problem; the answer was obvious. This focal stairway, as conceived by Chow and Roberts, was planted right at the entry so there could be no mistaking the need to travel upward in order to see both the entire Armani collection and the store itself. The ascent is not straight up, but one interrupted by viewing platforms from which ‘to take in information about the store' says Chow."63

The dark steel of the stair contrasted with the predominantly white interior while the industrial nature of the material and structure contrasted the more polished and refined nature of the clothing on display. The subtle reference to haute couture was also fascinating in the way that the stair almost resembled a catwalk, albeit an industrial one rather than one intended for a fashion show.

Glass staircases are a sub-typology within the Showcase Stair Intype. Designer Eva Jiricna has used them in several of her retail projects, including the design for the Joseph (1991) boutique in London.64 Similar to the Armani store, Joseph, too offered a relatively neutral background for the clothing and objets d'art for sale. Set against the minimal interior, the steel and glass construction of the Showcase Stair was a focal point in the space. One benefit of the glass stair, as demonstrated in this example, was the way transparent stair treads allow light from above to permeate through to lower levels, almost like an atrium. As seen in other examples, this stair was visible from outside through the shop's windows, extending the stair's impact beyond shoppers within to potential customers outside.

For their American flagship, Benetton (1997) moved into the Charles Scribner's Sons Building in New York, the old home to the well-known publishing house.65 Benetton wished to preserve and restore the 1913 building, so opting for a more traditional interpretation of the grand staircase was appropriate within the context of the historical building. The Showcase Stair was one of the architectural elements that was restored, including its ornate bronze metalwork and marble stair treads. The stair made a powerful statement, centrally located at the termination of the store's main axis. The classic department store atrium made yet another appearance, able to be traced from late 19th and early 20th century department stores through to the present. 

As Francis Ching explains, "Landings which are visible on approach invite ascent, as do treads which spill out at the bottom of a stairway."66 The Jil Sander (1997) boutique in Munich is a prime example of the way in which a spilling stair tempted customers.67 Within the White Box interior, the Showcase Stair coyly wrapped around a column and welcomed customers to ascend. Sander requested a space that would "fuse austere drama with a sense of welcome," which the stair successfully achieved with its graceful, yet inviting form.68 As was also the case with Philippe Starck's Creeks Boutique, the Jil Sander boutique features a fourteen- by eight-foot mirror (in photo) that reflected the Showcase Stair located in the corner and made it more visible than it otherwise would have been. 

Mandarina Duck's (2001) stair depicted the way in which a spiral stair inherently attracts attention within an interior.69 "Because of its helical...direction, the stair tends to draw attention to itself...In fact, this characteristic [is] often exploited to give interest to an otherwise static composition."70 The shop's spiral stair was the only fixed architectural element in the space. Without the grounding of the feature stair, the shop would have been an empty box-like space outfitted with all movable display fixtures. Layered onto the spiral stair's inherent attention-grabbing nature, the sides of the balustrades on an otherwise white stair are painted shades of bright green, perhaps in response to the minimal retail interiors that had been popular in the 1990s. Furthermore, the stair was also mechanized, allowing it to spin in place-"it speeds shoppers upstairs like a whirling corkscrew."71 This motorized effect accentuated the motion and dynamism already associated with the stair, and especially the spiral stair.

Forum (2001) was a Brazilian boutique that similarly paired a white interior with a colored Showcase Stair.72 In an otherwise White Box interior, the red stair as the focal point of the store. Its width lent itself to monumentality, dictating an almost processional movement upwards: "Movement up a broad flight of stairs is slow... the broad flight has a public character. Broad stairs are described as monumental and considered suitable for public display."73 A monumental Showcase Stair places users on display in a slightly different manner, the focus more on a person's scale in relation to the wide stair rather than his or her vertical movement up a narrower stair. The stair's termination in a feature wall complete with textured vernacular building materials and a coffee bar served to further punctuate its monumentality. 

While Forum referenced the wide classical stairs often associated with ancient temples or places of worship, one of Louis Vuitton's Japanese stores (2007) featured a spiral stair that was a modern interpretation of another classical stair typology: the double helical stair.74 These double stairs consisted of two intertwined spiral stairs that never intersected or cross paths, one of the earliest appearances being the French Château de Chambord from the 16th century. The stair was extremely sculptural in nature, especially in the way that the white treads appeared to float as they wound around powder-coated aluminum rods running the full height of the store. Designer Eric Carlson described the stair as "light but has a very strong, sculptural form in contrast to the orthogonality of the rest of the space...ensuring that shoppers would be sucked into the vortex."75  As the centerpiece of the store, shoppers could not help but be whisked up through the store.

Giorgio Armani was even more playful with his use of the stair in his New York Armani store (2010).76 The winding, ribbon-like stair wove back and forth to connect all four floors of the store, terminating at a restaurant on the top floor. Lighting played an important role in this Showcase Stair. The spatial experience within the bright, glowing stair was in high-contrast to dramatically lit product displays that were characterized by localized spotlighting surrounded by otherwise dim lighting. The combination of the higher sides and the white band that passed over the top of the stair allowed the stair to feel like a separate space, despite being open to the rest of the store. Ching addressed this effect, explaining that "stairs are three-dimensional forms just as moving up or down a stairway is a three-dimensional experience. This three-dimensional quality can be exploited when we treat it as a sculpture."77 Armani's Showcase Stair exemplified the sculptural stair's ability to exist as a space and commands its own spatial experience. It is also important to note that only within the past decade or two has the use of computer software for generating these types of complex, sculptural organic forms become widespread.

Conclusion

The Showcase Stair has provided a means for tracing retail's evolution from the palatial grand staircases of the department stores to contemporary brand palaces. In much the same way that department stores have manipulated the stair as an architectural element that can contribute to an interior for simulating a high-class shopping experience for the middle class, modern retailers have also employed the stair as tool for creating shop interiors analogous to palaces for worshiping their brand. Throughout practice types, stairs are symbolic of power and prestige, and allude to the stairs history as a means for reaching higher, sacred spaces. "Secular demonstrations of the monumental stair are every bit as common as those erected for spiritual edifices, for wherever autocratic power is exerted...there flourishes the monumental stair as an immediate exhibition of the puissance of the king, the empire, the state, and latterly the corporation or institution."78 Retail, too, is arguably a secular demonstration of the monumental stair.79

end notes

  1. 1) Leah Scolere, "Theory Studies: Contemporary Retail Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2004), 68-72; Najung Kim, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary Luxury Apartment Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2009), 102-18; Marta Mendez, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary House Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2008), 116-28; Mijin Juliet Yang, "Theory Studies: Contemporary Boutique Hotel Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2005), 50-53; Nathan James Wasilewski, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary Hotel Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2011), 121-54.
  2. 2) Rodney Fitch and Lance Knobel, Retail Design (New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1990), 167.
  3. 3) John Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992),19, 53.
  4. 4) Thomas Thiis-Evensen, Archetypes in Architecture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 89.
  5. 5) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 7.
  6. 6) Thiis-Evensen, Archetypes in Architecture, 91.
  7. 7) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 120.
  8. 8) Michael Spens, Staircases: Detail in Building (London: Academy Group Ltd., 1995), 8-10.
  9. 9) Eva Jiricna, Staircases (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2001), 13; Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 160.
  10. 10) Paris Opéra [1860-1874] Charles Garniers; Paris, France in ARTstor Online, http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8CJRfzQ5NS4pKi8rFTx%2FQnsoXXgte159&userId=gjJEcTMi&zoomparams= (accessed May 3, 2011); PhotoCrd: Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
  11. 11) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 164.
  12. 12) John McKean, Crystal Palace: Joseph Paxton and Charles Fox (London: Phaidon, 1994), 28.
  13. 13) KcKean, Crystal Palace, 29.
  14. 14) Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier, "The Shop as Market Space: The Commercial Qualities of Retail Architecture," eds. David Vernet and Leontine de Wit, Boutiques and Other Retail Spaces: The Architecture of Seduction (New York: Routledge, 2007), 18.
  15. 15) Joëlle Bolloch, The Eiffel Tower (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2005), 8, 17.
  16. 16) Dubuisson-Quellier, "The Shop as Market Space," 18.
  17. 17) Jan Whitaker, Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), 81-82.
  18. 18) Le Bon Marché [1869] Louis-Charles Boileau; Structural Renovation [1852], Gustave Eiffel and Louis Auguste Boileau; Paris, France in Bernard Marrey, Les Grands Magasins: Des Origins à 1939 (Paris: Picard, 1979), 68; PhotoCrd: Chevojon.
  19. 19) Kathleen James, "From Messel to Mendelsohn: German Department Store Architecture in Defence of Urban and Economic Change," eds. Geoffrey Crossick and Serge Jaumain, Cathedrals of Consumption: The European Department Store 1850-1939 (Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1999), 261-62.
  20. 20) Whitaker, Service and Style, 81.
  21. 21) Whitaker, Service and Style, 81-82, 93.
  22. 22) Srdjan Jovanovic and Sze Tsung Leong, "Escalator," eds. Chung, Chuihua Judy, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, Sze Tsung Leong, Tae-Wook Cha, Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (New York: Taschen, 2001), 350-52.
  23. 23) Spens, Staircases: Detail in Building, 6.
  24. 24) Bergdorf Goodman [1993] Eva Jiricna; New York City in Edie Lee Cohen, "Eva Jiricna: Renovation of the Venerable Bergdorf Goodman's Fifth Floor Transforms a Dark Maze into a Light-Filled Environment with Spectacular New York Views," Interior Design 64, no. 1 (Jan. 1993): 122-27; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige.
  25. 25) Selfridge's [2004] Future Systems; Birmingham, U.K. in James S. Russel, AIA, "Future System's Curvaceous Outpost in Birmingham Has Helped Turn the Dowdy Selfridge's Department-Store Chain into a Must-Shop Destination," Architectural Record 192, no. 6 (Jun. 2004): 234-41. PhotoCrd: Courtesy of Future Systems.
  26. 26) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 28.
  27. 27) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 167-69.
  28. 28) Jiricna, Staircases, 15-17, 46.
  29. 29) Martina Düttmann and Friederike Schneider, eds., Morris Lapidus: Der Architekt des Amerikanischen Traums (Morris Lapidus: The Architect of the American Dream) (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1992), 68.
  30. 30) V.C. Morris Gift Shop [1948-1950] Frank Lloyd Wright; San Francisco, CA in Anonymous, "The First Spiral: The V.C. Morris Shop Built in San Francisco in 1948 Was Wright's First Realized Spiral Form, a Further Development in His Search for Continuity," Architectural Record 128, no. 4 (Oct. 1960): 182-83; PhotoCrd: Maynard Parker.
  31. 31) Guggenheim Musuem [1943-1959] Frank Lloyd Wright; New York City in Alan Hess, Frank Lloyd Wright: The Buildings (New York City: Rizzoli International Publications, 2008), 242-43; PhotoCrd: Alan Weintraub.
  32. 32) Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1867-1959: Building for Democracy (Los Angeles: Taschen, 2004), 69; Aurora Cuito and Sol Kliczkowski, Frank Lloyd Wright (Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2003), 62.
  33. 33) Pfeiffer, Building for Democracy, 69.
  34. 34) Chantal Béret, "Shed, Cathedral or Museum?" eds. Grunenberg, Christoph, and Max Hollein, Shopping: A Century of Art and Consumer Culture (Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2002), 77.
  35. 35) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 28.
  36. 36) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 32, 54.
  37. 37) Francis D.K. Ching, Architecture: Form, Space and Order (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996), 275; Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 60; Jiricna, Staircases, 102.
  38. 38) Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein, A Pattern Language: Towns, Building, Construction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 638-41.
  39. 39) Alexander, A Pattern Language, 604-605.
  40. 40) Prada SoHo [2002] Rem Koolhaas, Office for Metropolitan Architecture; New York City in Joseph Giovaninni, "Finally, Prada: What Made the Rem Koolhaas Wave Worth Waiting For," Interior Design 73, no. 4 (Apr. 2002): 222-25; PhotoCrd: Paul Warchol.
  41. 41) Apple Fifth Avenue [2006] Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; New York City in John Gendall, "Business Week/Architectural Record Awards Winner: Apple Store Fifth Avenue, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson," Architectural Record 194, no. 11 (Nov. 2006): 86-89; PhotoCrd: Peter Aaron.
  42. 42) Gendall, "Business Week/Architectural Record Awards Winner: Apple Store Fifth Avenue, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson," Architectural Record 194, no. 11 (Nov. 2006): 86-89.
  43. 43) Goldman & Salatsch [1898] Adolf Loos; Vienna, Austria in Panayotis Tournikiotis, Adolf Loos (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994): 127; PhotoCrd: Gerlach photo-studio.
  44. 44) Barricini Candy Store [ca. 1940s] Simon B. Zelnik; New York City in Jose A. Fernandez, The Specialty Shop (A Guide) (Cornwall, NY: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1950), 87; PhotoCrd: Robert Greene.
  45. 45) Joseph Magnin [ca. 1940s] Gruen & Krummeck; Palo Alto, CA in Fernandez, The Specialty Shop, 72-66, 86; PhotoCrd: Robert Greene.
  46. 46) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 54.
  47. 47) George & Lester's [1952] Morris Lapidus; Racine, WI in Caleb Hornbostel, "Store Design: Architectural Record's Building Types Study Number 188," Architectural Record 111, no. 7 (Jul. 1952): 164-65; PhotoCrd: Hedrich-Blessing.
  48. 48) Hornbostel, "Store Design," 164.
  49. 49) Patterson-Bradford Rexall Drugstore [1952] N.W. Overstreet & Associates; Jackson, MS in Anonymous, "Patterson-Bradford Rexall Drug Store," Architectural Record 112, no. 4 (Oct. 1952): 170-72; PhotoCrd: Joseph W. Molitor.
  50. 50) Wallachs [1956] Ketchum, Giná & Sharp; New York City in Anonymous, "On Upper Fifth Avenue Wallachs' Largest," ed. James S. Hornbeck, AIA, Stores and Shopping Centers (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1962), 78-79; PhotoCrd: Anonymous.
  51. 51) Rosenthal [c1960] Rosenthal Studio B; Düsseldorf, Germany in Karl Kaspar, Shops and Showrooms: An International Survey (New York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1967): 100-103; PhotoCrd: Anonymous.
  52. 52) Schwan and Böger Book Shop [c1960] H. Brauns and R. Janeschitz-Kriegl; Düsseldorf, Germany in Kaspar, Shops and Showrooms, 48-49; PhotoCrd: Inge Goertz-Bauer, Düsseldorf.
  53. 53) The Seraph [1968] Robert L. Davis; East Haddam, CT in Anonymous, "The Seraph: A Gingerbread House in Connecticut Serves as a Shop and Design Studio," Interior Design 39, no. 5 (May 1968): 168-71; PhotoCrd: Ben Schnall.
  54. 54) Lincoln Memorial Bookshop [1973] Hugh Newell Jacobson; Washington D.C. in Anonymous, "Discreet Stores in Odd Places Sell by Demand," Architectural Record 154, no. 2 (Aug. 1973): 134; PhotoCrd: Robert C. Lautman.
  55. 55) Bullock's Wilshire [1973] Welton Becket and Associates; Los Angeles, CA in Anonymous, "Stores: A Portfolio of Four," Interior Design 44, no. 11 (Nov. 1973): 142-49; PhotoCrd: Marvin Rand.
  56. 56) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 26.
  57. 57) Alma [1986] Lorenzo Carmellini and Rocco Magnoli, Laboratorio Associati; New York City in Edie Lee Cohen, "Alma, New York: The Madison Avenue Shop by Milanese Architects Lorenzo Carmellini and Rocco Magnoli of Laboratorio Associati," Interior Design 57, no. 5 (May 1986): 276-79; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige.
  58. 58) Creeks Boutique [1986] Philippe Starck; Paris, France in Karen D. Stein, "In the Pink," Architectural Record: Record Interiors 174, no. 9 (Mid-Sept. 1986): 128-33; PhotoCrd: Tom Vack with Corrine Pfister.
  59. 59) Philippe Starck in Karen D. Stein, "In the Pink," 131.
  60. 60) Jean-Paul Gaultier [1986] Maurice Marty; Paris, France in Brigitte Fitoussi, Les Boutiques (Paris: Electa Moniteur, 1988), 74-79; PhotoCrd: Stéphane Couturier.
  61. 61) Andrea Loukin, "Jean Paul Gaultier, Paris: High Tech Meshes with Antiquity in Maurice Marty's Design for a Clothing Boutique," Interior Design 58, no. 10 (Aug. 1987): 202-205.
  62. 62) Giorgio Armani [1989] Michael Chow, Thane Roberts, AIA and Giorgio Armani; Beverly Hills, CA in Edie Lee Cohen, "Giorgio Armani: Michael Chow Collaborates with Thane Roberts, AIA, and Armani Himself in Design of the Beverly Hills Shop," Interior Design 60, no. 6 (Apr. 1989): 206-11; PhotoCrd: Toshi Yoshimi.
  63. 63) Cohen, "Giorgio Armani," 208.
  64. 64) Joseph [1991] Eva Jiricna; London, England in Jean Gorman, "Architectural Jewel: Eva Jiricna Takes Structure to the Limit at Joseph, a Subtle, Sloane Street Retail Shop in London," Interiors 150, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 104-105; PhotoCrd: Richard Bryant.
  65. 65) Benetton [1997] The Phillips Johnson Group; New York City in Monica Geran, "Design by Detection: Unusually Extensive Research by The Phillips Janson Group Precedes the Renovation of a Landmark Building for Benetton's New York flagship Store," Interior Design 68, no. 11 (Sept. 1997): 218-20; PhotoCrd: Peter Mauss, Esto.
  66. 66) Ching, Architecture: Form, Space and Order, 274.
  67. 67) Jil Sander [1997] Gabellini Associates; Munich, Germany in Edie Cohen, "White Magic: Gabellini Associates of New York Creates a Neutral ‘White Box Theater' as the Ideal Showplace for Jil Sander, Munich," Interior Design 68, no. 5 (Apr. 1997): 124-29; PhotoCrd: Paul Warchol.
  68. 68) Cohen, "White Magic," 124. 
  69. 69) Mandarina Duck [2001] NL Architects/Droog Design and; Paris, France in Raul Barrenche, New Retail (London: Phaidon, 2005), 190; PhotoCrd: Jimmy Cohrssen.
  70. 70) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 169.
  71. 71) Suzanne Trocmé, "Going Dutch: Droog Design and NL Architects Subvert Retail Conventions at Mandarina Duck's Flagship Store in Paris," Interior Design 72, no. 4 (Apr. 2001): 187.
  72. 72) Forum [2001] Isay Weinfeld; São Paulo, Brazil in Raul Barrenche, "Earthly Delight: With São Paulo's Forum Flagship, Architect Isay Weinfeld Shows that Sensuous Minimalism Can Hold Its Own," Interior Design 72, no. 14 (Nov. 2001): 142-47; PhotoCrd: Tuca Reinés.
  73. 73) Thiis-Evensen, Archetypes in Architecture, 95.
  74. 74) Louis Vuitton [2007] Eric Carlson; Nagoya, Japan in Christin Schwartz Hartley, "Luxury Goods: At Louis Vuitton in Nagoya, Eric Carlson Gives a New Twist to the Japanese Art of Gift Wrapping," Interior Design 78, no. 4 (Apr. 2007): 232-39; PhotoCrd: Jimmy Cohrssen.
  75. 75) Eric Carlson in Hartley, "Luxury Goods," 237.
  76. 76)  Armani Fifth Avenue [2010] Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas; New York City in Linda C. Lentz, "Armani Animates 5th Avenue," Architectural Record 198, no. 2 (Feb. 2010): 92; PhotoCrd: Allan Toft.
  77. 77) Ching, Architecture: Form, Space and Order, 275.
  78. 78) Templer, The Staircase: History and Theories, 47.
  79. 79) Evidence for the archetypical use and the chronological sequence of Showcase Stair in retail interiors was developed from the following sources: 1860 Le Bon Marché [1869] Louis-Charles Boileau; Structural Renovation [1852], Gustave Eiffel and Louis Auguste Boileau; Paris, France in Bernard Marrey, Les Grands Magasins: Des Origins à 1939 (Paris: Picard, 1979), 68; PhotoCrd: Chevojon / 1890 Wanamaker's [1896] Anonymous; Renovation, A.T. Stewart & Co. [1846] Trench and Snook; New York City in Jan Whitaker, Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), 92; PhotoCrd: Anonymous; Goldman & Salatsch [1898] Adolf Loos; Vienna, Austria in Panayotis Tournikiotis, Adolf Loos (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994),127; PhotoCrd: Gerlach photo-studio / 1940 Barricini Candy Store [c1940] Simon B. Zelnik; New York City in Jose A. Fernandez, The Specialty Shop (A Guide) (Cornwall, NY: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1950), 87; PhotoCrd: Robert Greene; Joseph Magnin [c1940] Gruen & Krummeck; Palo Alto, CA in Fernandez, The Specialty Shop, 86; PhotoCrd: Robert Greene / 1950 George & Lester's [1952] Morris Lapidus; Racine, WI in Caleb Hornbostel, "Store Design: Architectural Record's Building Types Study Number 188," Architectural Record 111, no. 7 (Jul. 1952): 165; PhotoCrd: Hedrich-Blessing; Patterson-Bradford Rexall Drugstore [1952] N.W. Overstreet & Associates; Jackson, MS in Anonymous, "Patterson-Bradford Rexall Drug Store," Architectural Record 112, no. 4 (Oct. 1952): 170; PhotoCrd: Joseph W. Molitor' Wallachs [1956] Ketchum, Giná & Sharp; New York City in Anonymous, "On Upper Fifth Avenue Wallachs' Largest," ed. James S. Hornbeck, AIA, Stores and Shopping Centers (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1962), 79; PhotoCrd: Anonymous / 1960 Rosenthal [c1960] Rosenthal Studio B; Düsseldorf, Germany in Kaspar, Shops and Showrooms, 102; PhotoCrd: Anonymous; Schwan and Böger Book Shop [c1960] H. Brauns and R. Janeschitz-Kriegl; Düsseldorf, Germany in Kaspar, Shops and Showrooms, 48; PhotoCrd: Inge Goertz-Bauer, Düsseldorf; The Seraph [1968] Robert L. Davis; East Haddam, CT in Anonymous, "The Seraph: A Gingerbread House in Connecticut Serves as a Shop and Design Studio," Interior Design 39, no. 5 (May 1968): 169; PhotoCrd: Ben Schnall / 1970 Lincoln Memorial Bookshop [1973] Hugh Newell Jacobson; Washington D.C. in Anonymous, "Discreet Stores in Odd Places Sell by Demand," Architectural Record 154, no. 2 (Aug. 1973): 134; PhotoCrd: Robert C. Lautman; Bullock's Wilshire [1973] Welton Becket and Associates; Los Angeles, CA in Anonymous, "Stores: A Portfolio of Four," Interior Design 44, no. 11 (Nov. 1973): 143; PhotoCrd: Marvin Rand / 1980 Alma [1986] Lorenzo Carmellini and Rocco Magnoli, Laboratorio Associati; New York, NY in Edie Lee Cohen, "Alma, New York: The Madison Avenue Shop by Milanese Architects Lorenzo Carmellini and Rocco Magnoli of Laboratorio Associati," Interior Design 57, no. 5 (May 1986): 277; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige; Creeks Boutique [1986] Philippe Starck; Paris, France in Karen D. Stein, "In the Pink," Architectural Record: Record Interiors 174, no. 9 (Mid-Sept. 1986): 131; PhotoCrd: Tom Vack with Corrine Pfister; Jean-Paul Gaultier [1986] Maurice Marty; Paris, France in Brigitte Fitoussi, Les Boutiques (Paris: Electa Moniteur, 1988), 75; PhotoCrd: Stéphane Couturier; Giorgio Armani [1989] Michael Chow, Thane Roberts, AIA and Giorgio Armani; Beverly Hills, CA in Edie Lee Cohen, "Giorgio Armani: Michael Chow Collaborates with Thane Roberts, AIA, and Armani Himself in Design of the Beverly Hills Shop," Interior Design 60, no. 6 (Apr. 1989): 207; PhotoCrd: Toshi Yoshimi / 1990 Joseph [1991] Eva Jiricna; London, England in Jean Gorman, "Architectural Jewel: Eva Jiricna Takes Structure to the Limit at Joseph, a Subtle, Sloane Street Retail Shop in London," Interiors 150, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 105; PhotoCrd: Richard Bryant; Bergdorf Goodman [1993] Eva Jiricna; New York, NY in Edie Lee Cohen, "Eva Jiricna: Renovation of the Venerable Bergdorf Goodman's Fifth Floor Transforms a Dark Maze into a Light-Filled Environment with Spectacular New York Views," Interior Design 64, no. 1 (Jan. 1993): 127; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige; Benetton [1997] The Phillips Johnson Group; New York, NY in Monica Geran, "Design by Detection: Unusually Extensive Research by The Phillips Janson Group Precedes the Renovation of a Landmark Building for Benetton's New York flagship Store," Interior Design 68, no. 11 (Sept. 1997): 218; PhotoCrd: Peter Mauss, Esto; Jil Sander [1997] Gabellini Associates; Munich, Germany in Edie Cohen, "White Magic: Gabellini Associates of New York Creates a Neutral ‘White Box Theater' as the Ideal Showplace for Jil Sander, Munich," Interior Design 68, no. 5 (Apr. 1997): 128; PhotoCrd: Paul Warchol / 2000 Mandarina Duck [2001] NL Architects/Droog Design and; Paris, France in Raul Barrenche, New Retail (London: Phaidon, 2005), 190; PhotoCrd: Jimmy Cohrssen; Forum [2001] Isay Weinfeld; São Paulo, Brazil in Raul Barrenche, "Earthly Delight: With São Paulo's Forum Flagship, Architect Isay Weinfeld Shows that Sensuous Minimalism Can Hold Its Own," Interior Design 72, no. 14 (Nov. 2001):142; PhotoCrd: Tuca Reinés; Prada SoHo [2002] Rem Koolhaas, Office for Metropolitan Architecture; New York, NY in Joseph Giovaninni, "Finally, Prada: What Made the Rem Koolhaas Wave Worth Waiting for," Interior Design 73, no. 4 (Apr. 2002): 222; PhotoCrd: Paul Warchol; Selfridge's [2004] Future Systems; Birmingham, U.K. in James S. Russel, AIA, "Future System's Curvaceous Outpost in Birmingham Has Helped Turn the Dowdy Selfridge's Department-Store Chain into a Must-Shop Destination," Architectural Record 192, no. 6 (Jun. 2004): 241. PhotoCrd: Courtesy of Future Systems; Apple Store [2006] Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; New York City in John Gendall, "Business Week/Architectural Record Awards Winner: Apple Store Fifth Avenue, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson," Architectural Record 194, no. 11 (Nov. 2006): 87, 89; PhotoCrd: Peter Aaron; Louis Vuitton [2007] Eric Carlson; Nagoya, Japan in Christin Schwartz Hartley, "Luxury Goods: At Louis Vuitton in Nagoya, Eric Carlson Gives a New Twist to the Japanese Art of Gift Wrapping," Interior Design 78, no. 4 (Apr. 2007): 236; PhotoCrd: Jimmy Cohrssen / 2010 Armani Fifth Avenue [2010] Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas; New York, NY in Linda C. Lentz, "Armani Animates 5th Avenue," Architectural Record 198, no. 2 (Feb. 2010): 92; PhotoCrd: Allan Toft.

bibliographic citations

1) The Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project, Cornell University, www.intypes.cornell.edu (accessed month & date, year).

2) Malyak, Kristin. "Theory Studies: Archetypical Retail Practices in Contemporary Interior Design," 96-135.