beyond the lens
re-envisioning the postal experience through cinema
My senior capstone aims to meld two interests: film and public service design. Film is a unique tool in its ability to both mirror our reality as well as create a new reality to influence our understanding of the world. While designers rely on plans, sections, and renderings to portray a space, film can take the viewer on a journey: following a narrative, seeing a space live and breathe just as its occupants do, and visualizing how it changes over time. Even the most realistic walkthrough renderings cannot portray the subtle and emotional nuances that help a space feel lived in. This project explores how the film format can enhance our relationship to space through the storytelling elements of narrative, transformation, and time.
At the heart of any film lies its characters. Their personalities and lived experiences can create a narrative and determine the film’s tone. Filmmakers can tell a story through the characters’ interactions with space in addition to color + lighting, mirroring an interior designer’s toolkit and user journey. By implementing film archetypes into physical space we’re able to see a location in a new, more whimsical light.
The monotony of the post office makes it the perfect site for this exploration. The experience is often frustrating and the design typically bland and unassuming. There’s a paradoxical understanding that as an essential business they don’t need to be designed well; but precisely because it’s essential there’s opportunity for thoughtful design to enhance the user experience.
The modifications to the current post office interior take into account the lessons learned from the three archetypes and the mediation of the body, space, and container. Each of the three zones in the site presents a challenge that can be addressed through the modification of a specific interior feature. The film archetypes begin to meld with the post office user journeys and create a new environment that allows for each user to choose their own experience.
© 2025 Maddie Coppola