From Money Storage to Money Store: Openness and Transparency in Bank Architecture
Publication Date
10-5-2012
Description
In the middle of the twentieth century, banks changed from ‘closed’ designs signifying wealth, security, and safety to ‘open’ designs signifying hospitality, honesty, and transparency as the perception of money changed from a passive physical substance to be slowly accumulated to an active notational substance to be kept in motion. If money is saved, customers must trust that the bank is secure and their money will be there when they want it; if money is invested, customers must trust that it is being done openly and honestly and they are being well-advised. Architecture visually communicates that the institution can be trusted in the requisite way.
Journal
Business History
Department
Accounting and Financial Management
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Fransden, Anne-Christine; Hiller, Tammy B.; Traflet, Janice; and McGoun, Elton G.. "From Money Storage to Money Store: Openness and Transparency in Bank Architecture." Business History (2012) .