"The mall is thus a theatre where consumers can create their own world and fantasise their parts in a play. Retailers provide the staging, props, lighting, and mannequins" (Kowinski 1985). Drawing on examples from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, outline the part played by architecture in achieving this shopping environment.'
Shopping’s environment is closely related to people’s hedonic activities and is represented by visual representation provided by the retailers. Some writers conceptualise shopping malls as a theater where the consumer can create their own role in a play based on what they see and interpret. Visual representation of mall that is bounded and protected from the outdoor controls semiotic messages of consumers and influence their emotions and response (Kowimski, 1985). The depiction of retail interiors and its atmosphere also gives an impact on customer’s behavior and purchasing activities. This essay will discuss about architectural evolution of shopping malls from 19th to 21th century in the process to provide the perfect atmosphere for a shopping mall as a ‘theater’ and how it intervenes customer’s emotions and their shopping behavior. The idea of shopping as socio-cultural activities does not really take off until 18th century when shopping activities were conducted in marketplaces and city streets and it were all set up on daily basis not as a continual presence on the streets. During the time, the idea of shopping was more about localities of the cities and having the identities of the types of products that were produced. It was on 18th century when shopping took place in an arcade for the first time (Friedberg, 1993). Palais Royal in Paris was commercially developed into a covered arcade of shops. It was an enclosed marketplace where consumption itself became the spectacle (Friedberg, 1993). The characteristics of an arcade in 18th century that invent the pictures of shopping behavior for customers until 21st century includes: 1. The access to interior of a block,