This thesis has explored the development of the automobile showroom as a twentieth century building type. The showrooms of Indianapolis, Indiana were used as the primary source of physical evidence. Buildings erected specifically for sales and service of automobiles between 1900 and 1955 chosen. The development was traced in regards to size and layout of the departments. The involvement of manufacturers, dealers and architects was also traced. / Department of Architecture

This creative project presents an overview of the architectural styles and history of the surviving commercial architecture of A.M. Strauss in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the best known architect working in Fort Wayne during the period covered by this creative project, and his work is an excellent example of how national architectural trends affected architecture in Fort Wayne. His commercial architecture represents his best known and most significant work. He did far too many buildings to cover in a single thesis, and so his residential and institutional architecture in Fort Wayne remains for another study, as do his many works outside of Fort Wayne. This project also brings together in one treatment as much photographic, historical and architectural documentation of these buildings as possible — documentation now scattered across east central and northeast Indiana. It traces Strauss's stylistic changes from Spanish Eclecticism through Art Deco and Art Moderne to Modernism. The surviving buildings represent each of these styles and shifts in historical context. / Department of Architecture