On one of the most competitive retail blocks in the world, the brands making the biggest architectural statements right now are doing it with temporary structures. At 57th and Fifth, Louis Vuitton’s in-house team has erected a 240-foot-tall construction shed that resembles a stack of six luggage trunks covered in its signature logo. The structure covers the ongoing construction of its new flagship with what is essentially a billboard for the brand. Nearby, Prada, in collaboration with 2x4, an environments and branding firm, has constructed a “decorated shed” around its flagship Fifth Avenue building. Here, the scaffolding indicates that the building is undergoing a renovation (while the company also builds a skyscraper next door). Most scaffolding is not really “designed,” instead shaped by the demands of efficiency and compliance. But it’s clear that for luxury brands on Billionaires’ Row, losing visibility on Fifth Avenue for an indefinite amount of time is simply not an option. Lauren Sinclair breaks it down. Read more at the link in our bio.