UCLA

Although it is often assumed that production must logically precede consumption, the development of postmodern architecture complicates this narrative. The development of postmodern architecture undermined established structures by centralizing the role of consumption and the consumer. This dissertation examines ways in which various conservative trends pushed the consumer closer toward production. These changes ushered in the experience economy of which Best Products Company and the broader catalog showroom phenomena were particularly emblematic. Drawing on these changes within the history of retail architecture, this dissertation sets out to explore how architecture emerged into the postmodern period as a box, a malleable shell that was increasingly being invaded and overturned by a powerful consumer.