Celebrity architects at home in condo market.

The downstairs reception room at posh Buddkan was packed with well-wishers last month as architect Dan Libeskind unveiled Aura, a 38-story residential building that is to rise above California's state capital in Sacramento.

Though the project is to be built 2,800 miles west of Chelsea Market, the crowd was abuzz nonetheless: another world-class architect had entered the residential high rise game.

"I think the urban residential building is to the 21st century architect what the individual home was to the twentieth century architect," said Libeskind, who hinted at upcoming projects back here in New York. "People don't want to live in ugly buildings. It's depressing. Where they live should be inspiring."

It wasn't long ago that collaborations between residential developers and star architects were infrequent if they happened at all. Now, when high-end clients go apartment shopping, they pick from a host of internationally recognizable names: Frank Gehery, Peter Marino, Santiago Calatrava, Richard Meier, Robert Stern.

So why the sudden rush to residential for our most famous architects?

"I think the first thing that is important to note us that it's not that [famous architects] didn't want to design residential high rises, it's that we were never asked," said Robert Stern of Robert HM Stern Architects, who has made a splash in the New York market with The Chatham, The Westminster and the limestone-clad 15 Central Park West, which is currently under construction. "We live in an age of marketing and branding. Architects are identifiable by the quality of our work... The question isn't why should we do residential buildings, it's why haven't we been doing them."

Increasingly, developers are finding that going for the top guys, once considered cost-prohibitive, can pay off handsomely.

Orin Wilf, developer of 170 East End Avenue has found success by tapping a top name in interiors to design the inside and outside of his building: Peter Marino. He says the name and the noted quality of Marino's work helped sales at his building, located smack against the East River between 87th and 88th Streets.

"I went with Peter because he is simply the top, most high-end interior designer and architect in the world. I don't know what else I can say," said Wilf. "That name resonates with people. We're on East End Avenue. It's not 5th Ave. and it's not Park Ave., but we're getting the prices you would get there because we have Peter Marino."

Denver-based Craig Nassi, developer of Libeskind's Aura agrees.

"People never thought of a building like this [in Sacramento]. But when they see Daniel's name attached to the project they get excited," Nassi said.

That gamble seems to have paid off. According to Aura's website, all 265 condos, in the building have been reserved.

Indeed, the cult of personality does seem to loom large in this market. The flash intro to the website for 170 East End Avenue features a photo of a smiling Peter Marino, while the websites for 15 Central Park West and Aura both mention their star architects in the first bit of text, as does the website for another hot New York property, which declares in a bold red on its website's intro page: "165 Charles Street is designed by Richard Meier."

Meier says he has been in the residential game a bit longer than his counterparts, designing artist lofts years back on 12th Street. He credits his work at 173 and 176 Perry Street, completed in 2002, for helping to push along a change in thinking among residential high-rise developers.

"I think they saw, quite frankly, how successful Perry Street was and how successful Charles Street will be and they realize they can do better with quality architecture instead of mediocre architecture," Meier said. "There is money to be made. They're developers. They're not in it for charity."

Despite whatever number crunching and PR maneuvers wend their way into residential high-rise development, all those interviewed expressed excitement at the prospect of combining large budgets and renowned brains to create exciting architecture.

"I feel very proud of what we've done and look forward to doing what I can to improve the quality of architecture here," Meier said. "I'm a New Yorker I love New York."