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PROJECTS: ARCHITECTURE
WAGE SLAVERY
In a society driven by progress, the individual’s autonomy may be overshadowed by the demands of a system geared for economic development. The pervasiveness of this phenomenon, prevalent in Singapore’s Central Busines District, has created a condition akin to ‘wage slavery’, characterised by the gradual erosion of wellbeing and an insidious numbness to one’s own condition.
CORPORATE ARCHITECTURE
The ubiquitous nature of corporate architecture has fostered a culture of conformity and compliance, forcing the individual into becoming a mere product of society. This thesis exposes the underlying systems contributing to the dehumanisation of the worker. The worker navigates the work environment to find relief, a pseudo control that falls short of genuine autonomy. Their attempt to break free from the cycle of self-denial and conformity involves forms of controlled self-destruction to unleash their primal self.
WORKER VS CORPORATE POWER
Their attempt to break free from the cycle of self-denial and conformity involves forms of controlled self-destruction to unleash their primal self. However, their efforts are retaliated by corporate powers through accelerated advancements of technology and machine learning, mimicking the way of the worker and adapting their attempts into means of automated surveillance.
POWER DYNAMIC
The power dynamic between the worker and corporate power for relief and surveillance disguises the exponential growth of a dehumanising machine - a factory to harvest energy and productivity in order to drive profits.
THE DEHUMANISING MACHINE
The machine traps the worker, oblivious, in an endless cycle of work and rejuvenation to produce a highly efficient and productive system. The worker’s entrapment results in an artificially crafted lifestyle, suppressing the greatness of the human mind, and purely following instructions.
ILLUSION OF A PERFECT LIFESTYLE
The illustrations take inspiration of the danse macabre - the enjoyment of life despite their death. The workers find pleasure in the tactics used by corporate power to keep them in the cycle.
THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The result of this is the loss of creativity and the system’s eventual diminishing productivity. This evolution offers a glimpse into the Orwellian future of the systems we gladly become part of today. Perhaps, we need such a deterioration of humankind to break our own stubborn mentalities.
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