Intro
Our Vision & Approach
Our project started with a simple but powerful question that came from real conversations — conversations with sex workers in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, De Wallen. Walking through those glowing windows, we couldn’t ignore how technology has changed what visibility means. The same glass that invites customers also exposes the workers behind it to constant digital surveillance — phones, cameras, and facial recognition systems. So, we asked ourselves: how can design protect the privacy and autonomy of sex workers in a city where every corner is being watched?
We began by research in the area, observing how the physical environment shapes interactions. The windows are both workplaces and stages — they frame the body, but they also make it vulnerable. We saw tourists taking photos without consent, and we realized that while technology often empowers, it can also violate. That insight became our starting point.
From there, our process evolved through three main steps: scenario, concept, and prototype.
Process
Scenario
Our research began in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, where sex workers perform behind glass windows — a space of both empowerment and vulnerability.
While photography and filming are officially prohibited, digital surveillance and AI-based image recognition continue to expose workers to risks beyond their control.
We observed how the same glass that enables professional visibility also becomes a surface of unconsented exposure, revealing the urgent need for a design response that balances safety and autonomy.
Concept
From these insights, we reframed visibility as a matter of choice rather than exposure.
Our idea was to create a textile-based protection system that could defend digital privacy without limiting real-world presence.
By integrating infrared light into a knitted fabric, we envisioned a surface that remains visually open to the human eye but interferes with cameras — giving workers control over how they are seen, both physically and digitally.
Prototype
The concept evolved into a modular, self-assembled privacy panel (135 × 180 cm) built from reclaimed pine wood, knitted technical textiles, and a 940 nm IR subsystem.
Its flat-pack construction allows easy transport, assembly, and recycling, while the infrared emission creates a protective light field invisible to the human eye.
The result is a luminous boundary — not a wall of separation, but a design tool that empowers bodily autonomy and redefines what it means to be visible.
