Peter Marino's Brand Buildings

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The exterior of the Chanel store in Tokyo designed by Marino turns into a giant video screen at night, thanks to thousands of LED lights. Takashi Orii

In September, Marino's first furniture pieces available for retail purchase, including this chair, will be available. Courtesy Poltrona Frau

This fall, Marino's luxurious residential project at 170 East End Ave. in New York opens. So far, 80% of the units have sold. Courtesy Peter Marino Architect

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To achieve this effect, he often collaborates with artists to achieve one-of-a-kind environments.

Some of the video projections that resemble Chanel's signature tweed patterns, shown on the exteriors of the Chanel stores in Asia, were created by artist and photographer Michal Rovner, who has shown at prestigious venues such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Retail Architecture

Marino's incorporation of contemporary art into his retail design is, of course, a marketing strategy in its own right. Wealthy collectors—hedge-fund managers, Wall Street investors—who frequent art galleries and invest thousands and even millions of dollars in art in today's booming art market are the target customers at a Marino-designed store. The idea is that collectors familiar with artists who have collaborated on the shop's design will be drawn to the shops. The reverse is true, too: artists receive more exposure to potential collectors.

Of course, Marino isn't the first "starchitect" to design luxe flagship stores. Prada boutiques in Tokyo and New York have been designed by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron and Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, respectively. But what sets Marino apart is his ongoing focus on and commitment to retail architecture, an element of his portfolio since he designed the Madison Avenue flagship store for Barneys New York, the high-end department store, in the early 1990s.

Marino has remained connected to the retail arena and refines how architecture can best be used as a very visible and effective brand-building strategy. He employs an in-house research team, among his staff of 150, to hunt down new materials and ideas, such as the 700,000 computer-controlled LED lights used to convert the outside of the Tokyo Chanel store into a giant video screen. And he takes a deep dive into the brand identity of each luxury-goods company he works with, researching historical archives. He even visited Coco Chanel's former Paris apartments for design cues to update with fresh technologies.

"Built to Last"

"Peter's focus has always been on quality and aesthetics. He has never been concerned with following trends or chasing someone else's fleeting definition of cool. When we worked with him, it was always a collaboration. His ideas always successfully embellished our vision," says Gene Pressman, former chief executive of Barneys and author of the forthcoming book Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace, in an e-mail. In other words, rather than design stores that parallel other trendy boutiques or reflect his own signature style, Marino focuses on creating unique, timeless retail environments that remain true to the luxury brand.

"I think most 'Starchitects' are more concerned with making a statement than giving the consumer a pleasant shopping experience," Pressman continues. "But what we [the Pressman family, founders of Barneys] did [with the flagship store] on Madison Avenue was conceived in the early 1990s and is still relevant today. It was built to last. That's what Peter's work is all about."

For a look at the 10 buildings of the last century that have influenced Marino's work, click here.

Jana is a writer with BusinessWeek.com in New York.