The project envisions a future for Pelham Bay Park that transcends human-centric narratives, transitioning toward microbial in-habitation. This project integrates cultural history, ecological processes, and community engagement to reshape the landscape while challenging colonial legacies. The park’s historical layers include deep connections to boulders that highlights their role in the region’s ecological cycles and traditional rituals - serving as landmarks for wars, daily rituals and sacred sites to the Siwanoy Native American tribe. Over time, the park’s landscape has been altered by landfill operations, which buried significant portions of the estuary ecosystem under layers of waste. The project seeks to unearth these buried narratives by repurposing the waste rocks from New York’s mines as foundations to rewrite the landscape, forming new pathways and coastal barriers for a future rooted in resilience, ecological restoration, and cultural reclamation. The rocks, once used as tools for colonial expansion to fuel the growth of New York City, will now serve as a medium for anticolonial reshaping of the park. Central to this process is community involvement, with rituals conducted around key historical rocks to honor the park’s cultural heritage. By weaving together these elements, the project challenges colonial legacies and explores the potential of de-colonial practices. These efforts are also a response to the challenges posed by climate change, promoting the creation of adaptive landscapes that evolve with ecological shifts. The ritual of transformation of the park will thus reflect its rich history while also preparing it for a resilient future amidst rising temperatures and evolving ecosystems for other species to thrive.
