The Grand Concourse Beyond 100 International Ideas Competition 

1st Prize Winner. Collaboration work with Jamison Fajardo. 2009 

pUMp (Purifying Urban Modular Parasite) envisions the future of the Grand Concourse as an innovative sustainable neighborhood transformed by multiple productive landscapes. We propose the ‘rebirth’ of manufacturing by injecting green industries that produce the pUMp, a purifying urban modular parasite, which mitigates air pollution, a critical problem prevalent in the South Bronx, today. We propose to address this problem by starting an air filtering industry in the South Bronx area that utilizes local labor. First we would begin a major clean-up of the waterfront bordering the Major Deegan Expressway and establish a tree farm that would aid in filtering the air. The current manufacturing district located on the lower concourse will be reinstated to its past potentials to create a green-industrial district that would manufacture the pUMp and trigger the revitalization of the Grand Concourse. The pUMp will be strategically “clipped” on to the Major Deegan Expressway that will filter vehicular air pollution and additionally provide acoustic buffering, rainwater filtration, green walkways, and pedestrian access to the new green waterfront. Clean air will allow the development of residential and commercial outlets within the neighborhood of the Grand Concourse. With the congregation and the participation of locals, pockets of public spaces within the tree farm and the pUMp will educate the community of sustainable values resulting in a new identity, an innovative green community. Finally, with the exportation and awareness of the PUMP, numerous green communities will begin to emerge in other areas of the Bronx as well as New York City.

Link to the Press Release