Grand Historic Department Stores

Department stores made a day out of shopping. These photographs look at the architecture behind that invitation: crossed escalators in Paris, an organ above a Philadelphia sales floor, and a glass roof stretching over the indoor streets of Moscow's GUM. Start with the domes and staircases of Paris, then look for the details that distinguish the London, Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, and American stores. Even the trip up an escalator or through a front door could become part of the show.