The passion of the Japanese for western fashion has contributed to the proliferation in big cities of flagship stores of luxury brands, often designed by signature firms. The headquarters of Hermès by Renzo Piano, of Prada by Herzog & de Meuron, the Tod’s boutique by Toyo Ito and of Dior by Sejima & Nishizawa, all in Tokyo, are examples of this.

Located in Osaka’s busy Midosuji street, the building for the boutiques and offices of Louis Vuitton Japan Group has become another emblem of the contemporary consumerist culture. Its first imagery was a ‘luminous box of stone’ with external walls of onyx plates from Pakistan sliced down to 4 millimeters in thickness and sandwiched between glass plates.To ensure the offices enjoy street views, panels made of PET film sheet with an onyx-like pattern print sandwiched between the glass plates were mixed with onyx walls at a proportion of 2 to 1 respectively. This design generates a functional space with natural lighting and views to the exterior without giving up its advertisting role. The building represents a dual image between the opacity of the stone and the transparency of glass, which is especially evident at nighttime.