BOYSEN KNOXOUT: PROJECT EDSA TREE LUNGS

What if walls could breathe?

Boysen Knoxout: Project EDSA Tree Lungs is an urban renewal initiative that transforms long stretches of concrete along the Philippines’ busiest highway into a forest of trees shaped like human lungs. But this isn’t just another mural project—it’s living science.

Painted using Boysen Knoxout, the world’s first smog-eating paint, each mural purifies the air through photocatalysis: a process that breaks down harmful pollutants and cleans the air when activated by sunlight.

As a Junior Art Director at TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, I helped bring the campaign to life by conceptualizing and sketching the very first tree shaped like human lungs—a simple but powerful idea that became the foundation of an agency-wide effort and a meaningful environmental initiative. The idea was simple: each tree was designed to mirror the function of real lungs, quietly breathing and filtering the air one artwork at a time. What began as a drawing on paper soon took root in the city itself, transforming cold concrete into a living forest that actively cleaned the air and helped restore a polluted city.

Since its launch, Boysen Knoxout Project EDSA Tree Lungs has received both local and international recognition (including honors from Cannes Lions and Spikes Asia) for showing how creativity and science can work together to make cities cleaner and more alive.

But more than the recognition, the project meant a lot to me personally. As a young art director and illustrator, it was my first real dive into the world of advertising—where I learned that creativity can go beyond visuals and actually help bring meaningful ideas to life.