Synergy of Excess

Contemporary society is preoccupied with commodity, consumption and spectacle. The fashion industry thrives on these preoccupations and cultivates them through the proliferation of images. Recently, they have engaged architects and extended the practice of branding to the buildings that house them. In doing so, the fashion industry demonstrates it has the power to offer architecture a venue for experimentation. Tokyo's boutiques synthesize technology, art, fashion, branding and fame. They indulge in excess to create individuality and desirability. The architecture of these boutiques denote a further shift away from the discourse and design of Modernism toward the visceral concept of beauty on which the fashion industry functions. This shift has manifested itself in a trend of surface architecture that demonstrates an unfettered interest in beauty, materiality, and sensation. This architecture both engages the urban environment and represents a convergence of architecture with popular culture.