Speaking of Nordstrom, the source of yesterday’s moody backlit mannequins, here’s their view of the clean and modern central atrium. I wanted to induce more motion blur, but the 1/15-second shutter was too fast. Still, I like the architectural lines and the purposely composed escalator leading line.

There are two Nordstroms in Austin, one in the north and the other in the south. Even though the south store is larger, I prefer this one at The Domain—not that I shop at them very often. The Domain store is a convenient path between the parking garage and the rest of the mall. However, this north store is more modern and stylish. Though you can’t see it from this composition, the ceiling has a dark industrial look, exposing its structure.

The south store, by contrast, has a standard white drop ceiling fully covering the ceiling infrastructure. While more finished-looking, it smacks of the old-school design of department stores from decades ago. It’s incredible how subtle cues date stores. Walk into a JCPenney or other legacy store, and it looks like it’s stuck in the 1980s.

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