Forefront

Stories about ourselves and the desires that drive us: showcasing today's shop window culture.A pane of glass, not more than 1.5 centimeters thick, divides the shop from the pavement. On one side, the climate-controlled interior welcomes those who can afford to pay the price; on the other, the inclement street where the others may, in the time-honored ritual of window-shopping, look for free. Glass is technically a solid liquid, a magical paradox linking the "real" world with a world of luxury. At their finest, the displays behind it are magical, too - spell-binding ensembles greater than the sum of their parts.Enclosed-window retail displays of the highend kind, in which a temporary mise en scène revolves around expensive merchandise, have been neglected as a design discipline, although they continue to play a significant role in our consumer culture.