Plate Glass Window
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The Industrial Revolution automated the grinding and polishing process of formerly expensive plate glass, production costs plummeted, allowing plate glass to move from palaces to commercial street (1).
Paris became the blueprint for modern shopping by using these massive glass sheets to fundamentally alter consumer psychology (2).
Le Bon Marché, the world’s first modern department store. It utilized continuous, massive runs of plate glass to turn the entire storefront into a theatrical, illuminated stage (3).
The French concept of lèche-vitrine (literally "window licking," or window shopping) was born. Storefronts were no longer just walls with small structural holes for ventilation; they were translucent barriers meant to entice the pedestrian (4).
- https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Plate_glass
- https://www.pbs.org/video/rick-steves-best-of-paris-zs6otc/
- https://artuyt.com/2019/08/01/window-displays-2/
- https://www.pbs.org/video/rick-steves-best-of-paris-zs6otc/
