This week we introduce the graduates-to-be, the class of 2015 and what they consider the best work of the past year.
Meet: Felipe Garcia, São Paulo, Brazil
"As I lived most of my life in a big city," notes Felipe Garcia, "I faced many urban problems: traffic jams, pollution, crime, and people blocking sidewalks by not sticking to one side when they walk. The latter is by far the issue that bothers me the most. In the US, people drive in the right hand lane, while oncoming vehicles approach on the left, which I believe should be the same for walking on sidewalks.
I decided to take some action in New York, since I have noticed that people here, residents and tourists alike, also block sidewalks when they walk. I designed a bright, yellow costume, with a clear message, “don’t be a jerk, don’t block the sidewalk”, to create awareness through a humorous approach.
My goal was to irritate people and make them realize that what they were doing was bothering others. However, people were actually very sympathetic: “I support what your organization is doing” (even though I had no affiliation to any institution); or a businessman, perhaps trying to improve the project, yelled: “you should be pushing a stroller”. As a result of my experiment, I found out that I was not the only one with this concern." #yellowman