BLOCK-SCALE WPA
We are a South Bronx-based design and media collective that works with community anchors while building regenerative pipelines through project-based learning.We build with what’s already here—spaces, stories, skills, people. BLOQUE was born not as a brand, but as a way of working.
We start by filling gaps: documenting the work no one sees, amplifying voices that are already building, and designing with the people already doing the heavy lifting.
Now, we create systems that train the next generation, support existing organizations, and bring new tools and capacity into neighborhoods—block by block.START SMALL, BUILD TRUST
We plug into what’s needed—documentation, media, murals, exhibitions, cultural events—to connect, build trust, and learn what matters on the ground.
ADD LAYERS, GO DEEPER
Each project builds on the last. As relationships grow, new opportunities and collaborations emerge. The work stacks—trust, skill, impact—layer by layer, and creates a self-sustaining loop that compounds over time.
SOLVE FOR MANY
Real solutions address multiple objectives simultaneously—cultural, technical, social, and environmental. We think in complex systems and recursive loops.
MULTIPLY IMPACT, BUILD HUBS
One project turns into many. Over time, they grow into hubs. Neighborhoods face overlapping challenges, and we build networks for collaboration, shared learning, and collective action.
GENERATIVE, NOT EXTRACTIVE
We don’t extract—we restore. We build with community and nature, not against them.
TOOLS TO THE YOUTH
With access to real skills and technology, we give young people the tools to design, build, and create. They don’t just imagine the future—they build it.EMBEDDED BY DESIGN
We work in neighborhoods that have been economically hollowed out and hit hardest by industrial decline—where jobs have disappeared, opportunities shrank, and health and education outcomes suffered.
Office space sits unused nearly 60% of the time—so we don’t have one by design. Instead, we embed directly in underused buildings in the communities we serve. We address “empty building syndrome” while making use of what exists. By plugging into local organizations, we create a network of small hubs that grow with the neighborhood. They gain capacity, we stay rooted, and the work stays on the block.
BLOQUE FELLOWSHIP
The BLOQUE Fellowship trains young builders, designers, and media creators. Fellows develop technical skills by working on real neighborhood-driven projects from architecture to media production. Fellows help build out the hubs themselves—laying foundations for long-term growth and self-reliance.
LA CANTERA
BLOQUE’s development system is modeled after a fútbol youth academies. Older teaches younger, and each levels up through real-world practice. You don’t age out—you level in. Fellows become collaborators. Work leads to more work. Talent stays in the neighborhood.