This research is interdisciplinary between design with a cultural studies approach to analyse the power relations for the appropriation practices of cultural values in the undagi tradition in the service of the Free Architecture Design Unit (UNDAGI) of Badung Regency, Bali. Undagi is a term for the traditional architects who shaped the Balinese spatial layout whose existence has been recorded in the Sukawana A1 Inscription (882 AD). The term undagi was borrowed as the acronym for UNDAGI services in 2017. The borrowing process appropriates cultural values from the undagi tradition carried out by the ruling elite for their political interests. The method used is desk study research through print media searches, interviews and systematic literature studies. Analyses were conducted with three types of analyses, namely appropriation branding, design and communication. The results showed that the appropriation of cultural values in the undagi tradition in UNDAGI services was carried out with the spirit of cultural preservation. However, they refracted the meaning of the original culture. The preservation process is not strengthened by in-depth research on cultural objects, reductionism and “ahistoricality”. This practice implies that the power elite provides partial solutions that holistically affect the social order of society and the world of design.