Vioro is a reinvention of the modern department store at the busiest intersection of Fukuoka’s high-end commercial district. Two levels of below-ground retail link to the city subway and subterranean shopping passages, while the six levels above ground provide venues for the clients of a hip, young shopping culture in the Tenjin area. The normally blank façades of a traditional department store are reinterpreted as glamorous glass and light lanterns. Horizontal surfaces are broken down via display light-boxes on every level, which float within larger structural elements, drawing attention from pedestrians below. A variety of surface treatments, such as intricate steel meshes, patterned stones, and illuminated glazed surfaces further integrate this new kind of department store into the contemporary city, turning the entire building into a billboard and window-shopping structure.