CFP: Display Architecture: Department Stores and Modern Retail

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Display Architecture: Department Stores and Modern Retail (SAH April 9 - 13, 2014, Austin)
Deadline: June 1, 2013

The opening in the mid-nineteenth century of the first “cathedrals of consumption” that were the department stores gave birth to an array of strategies meant to enhance the presentation of merchandize. From new materials (glass and iron) and new lighting techniques (electricity) to new technologies of mobility (the elevator) and new spaces for socializing (art galleries, writing rooms, or dressing chambers), nothing was spared that could turn the heads of even the most adamant enemies of shopping. The store was for display and display made the store.

This SAH (Society of Architectural Historians) panel invites papers that study the interior and exterior architecture of department stores in new ways. It departs from the premise that the presentation of merchandize cannot be separated from modern materials and building techniques that have been the preferred topics of art and architectural historians so far. It proposes to challenge the traditional hierarchy of materials and to replace brick and mortar, paint and stone with artificial flowers, theatrical props, tantalizing fabrics and wax mannequins – which, together, formed a real architecture of display. Possible topics may include: the artistic work-force behind department store displays; the architectural and design innovations promoted by the stores’ ateliers d’art; window dressing, mannequins, and interior décor; catalogs, guidebooks, and newspaper illustrations used in advertising; as well as the artistic contests and temporary structures promoted by these establishments. By challenging scholars to engage with new materials and new media, the panel proposes to redefine display as an essential component of modern architecture.

Please submit proposals by June 1, 2013 to: Anca I. Lasc, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania,alasc@ship.edu

AND

Florence Brachet Champsaur, EHESS and Groupe Galeries Lafayette,florence.brachet@champsaur.eu

Click here for the SAH online submission process:https://sah.conference-services.net/authorlogin.asp?conferenceID=3674&language=en-uk
For more information regarding the SAH conference:http://www.sah.org/conferences-and-programs/2014-conference—-austin