In a dystopian totalitarian future, this project exploits visibility and temporality to liberate freedom of expression. Corporations surveil and impact every aspect of people’s lives.

This project occupies sites of symbolic corporate power in NYC. The program veils and exposes: a speakeasy (a space of free speech) veiled by a club at night exists as an office of tomorrow during the day.

“We are Closed.” is a 9-months thesis BFA Interior Design project (Pratt Institute). A semester research was conducted first. This project is critical on many current social and political discussions. The aim of this thesis is not only using design strategy to bring up such awareness, but to potentially evoke bigger conversation and visions.

The notion of total surveillance was the primary research topic, which covers a big range of studies on literature, news, history, media, design and film that contributes to ideas include panopticon, total states, corporate power, data, digitisation, mobility, adaptability and so on.

Monopolised corporation impacts and watches every aspect of people’s life by storing data, governs people in centralised way. Act as beacons, project sites challenges the idea of being veiled and exposed. To do this, there is a changing program of conditions: A speakeasy space includes a club and a speech space as programs contrast with working office during the day. These will reflect both structural change and phenomenological performance through light, fog and sound to affect the audiovisual material condition.Main site chosen as prototype: MetLife Building to test both street level and upstairs floor activities. This site functions as the umbrella site as others may include Bank of America, Hearts Building, Empire State Building, NY state supreme court, etc.