Benton-C Bainbridge and Minou Maguna's designs for Brother Islands function both as installation/performance environments and, in miniature, as interactive media sculptures. A 2009 NYSCA Individual Artists award funded the new design work, materials for the construction of maquettes, and additional editing of the original source footage.

Diorama: Brother Islands creates a quarantine out of projections, raw materials and mirrors. Weathered wood hangs from the ceiling and reveals glimpses of the ruins on North Brother Island. A pool of water on the floor evokes the cistern that held drinking water for the detainees. Dead leaves cover the floor and perfume the space. The walls and ceiling are reflective, putting the viewers into quarantine along with performers.

The sound environment intermixes Ross Goldstein's music and Bill Etra's stories of confinement in New York City's nursing homes and homeless shelters.