Color, texture, a refined yet offbeat sense of materiality, and above all, a subtle irreverence are staple elements of fashion designer Consuelo Castiglioni’s collections for Marni, the upscale Milanese label she founded in 1994 with her husband, Gianni, the company’s C.E.O.

Located on the 29th floor of a 1960s Park Avenue office tower, the New York City home of the Cofra Group and its Good Energies venture capital company—an investor in such renewable energy enterprises as Sage Electrochromics—is proof that this Switzerland-based corporation takes its business to heart.

How do you grab the attention of motorists hurtling along on their evening commute in an auto-centric city like Dallas?

When asked to sharpen the corporate image of the Spanish furniture manufacturer Ofita for visiting designers, architects, and specifiers, the Milan-based design and architecture firm King & Miranda transformed the company’s Madrid offices and showroom—located on two adjacent floors—into an integrated sales tool using a spare vocabulary of textural elements, colors, and lighting strategies.

In the historic center of Milan, two buildings represent opposites in almost every way.