by Jonathan Novak, Director of Design

Leading design firms have been challenging the notion of eclecticism in retail architecture for quite some time. Eclecticism is the idea that retail design needs to create a false urbanism or ‘Main Street USA’ appeal. Certainly making an articulate urban experience for shoppers has its merits but making the retail experience into a menagerie of facades has become formulaic and diminished retail architecture’s potential in the field. By breaking up the exterior into what appears as diverse smaller buildings cheapens the idea that an architectural work is a singular artistic idea. Instead, designers are creating more signature collections of buildings with greater architectural appeal.