Situated at one of the main entrances to Central Park, Gilded Cage takes the concept of a fence and turns it into a large scale interactive object. The Public Art Fund writes, “While retaining references often associated with structures of division, like bars and turn-styles, the installation will be juxtaposed against one of the most visited urban public parks in the U.S. Designed as a democratic oasis and vision of utopia, Central Park has vast open areas, lush forests, and monuments of heroes and explorers, creating a powerful contrast with Ai’s work.”

A low-slung interpretation of a fence made of mesh netting strung around metal barriers, Circle Fence will “emphasize the Unisphere’s form and symbolic meaning, engaging with the steel representation of the Earth,” the Public Art Fund writes. The Unisphere itself is a product of the 1964 World’s Fair, where people from across the globe came together to gawk at the latest technological advancements from across the globe. Today, the Unisphere sits at the nexus of some of the country’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

Another installation is situated under Washington Square Park’s triumphal arch—much to the neighborhood’s chagrin. It takes the form of a large cage with a cutout styled after two forms embracing. Ai says, “The triumphal arch has been a symbol of victory after war since antiquity. The basic form of a fence or cage suggests that it might inhibit movement through the arch, but instead a passageway cuts through this barrier – a door obstructed, through which another door opens." The installation has already proven to be a popular selfie destination.

It’s no oversight that many of the project’s installations are clustered in the East Village and Lower East Side. The neighborhoods have historically been a landing pad for new immigrants. Ai himself lived here, in a basement apartment at 48 East 7th Street, when he was a student and immigrant in the 1980s. The installation here will occupy the space between two buildings.

A rooftop fence appears on top of this low building, now home to burlesque club The Box.

A second rooftop fence is installed on top of this 19th-century building.

Bus shelters along Fulton in Street in Downtown Brooklyn, along 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard in Harlem, and at 163rd Street and Third Avenue in The Bronx have been transformed with the installation of fence-like structures. (Don’t worry, they actually provide more seating.) The installations highlight how transportation figures into the global refugee crisis, as well as the role transportation infrastructure has played in the American immigrant story.