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The border wall as architecture: Teeter Totter Wall brings
"pink joy" and links people of the US and Mexico
By mickielynn on 2019-08-02 07:30:21
[caption id="attachment_12849" align="alignnone" width="600"]
> a ee
— -- ~ S— -
SSE SS. — mS ——
Recently built separation wall
dividing one mile of Sunland Park, N.M., from Colonia Anapra — a community on the western side of Ciudad Juarez in
Mexico. Credit Monica Ortiz Uribe for NPR[/caption]
Embedded video at https://www.youtube.com/embed/MDOox0d_G1I?start=2
In January of 2019 a private group used a gofundme campaign to build one mile of border wall between two communities.
One in New Mexico and one in Mexico on the western side of Ciudad Juarez. This project was done without a permit or an
environmental impact statement and residents opposed it but it still got built. In one sense it was kind of silly and wasteful
because people could still cross the border at either end of this largely symbolic wall but it did change the town and the
environment. But then something beautiful, joyful and unexpected happened. Two architects who had worked on a project
to use art to create a way to bring cross border communities together implemented a simple but profound project that they
had actually created on paper a decade ago. The names of the architects, who work together in a design firm are Ronald Rael
and Virginia San Fratello. They originally designed three teeter totters to express the trade and labor imbalances between
the two countries. But after president Trump began building a large, ugly, disruptive border wall ~~~ [In Ronald Rael's
words] "The wall became a literal fulcrum for U.S. - Mexico relations" once the seesaws were added. He went on to say,
"children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions that take place
on one side have a direct consequence on the other side." [caption id="attachment_12856" align="alignnone" width="600"]
A seesaw across the U.S.-
Mexico border came to life this week, 10 years after first being conceived by two California professors. Ronald Rael and
Virginia San Fratello, instructors in architecture and design, respectively, created “a literal fulcrum” out of the wall. Rael
says it was “one of the most incredible experiences of my and [Virginia’s] career bringing to life the conceptual drawings of
the Teeter totter Wall from 2009 in an event filled with joy, excitement, and togetherness at the border wall.” Photo by R.
Rael[/caption] These wonderful captions come from an article looking at the seesaws as art as well as play and
metaphor. Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello Create Seesaw Along Border Wall, by Andy Smith Posted on July 30,
2019 [caption id="attachment_12848" align="alignnone" width="600"]
Teeter totter wall, photo by R.
Rael[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12858" align="alignright" width="512"]
The seesaws connected Sunland Park, New
Mexico, ‘and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in particular. Children on both sides spontaneously joined the fun throughout the day.
“The joy that was shared this day on both sides is something that will stay with me forever,” Rael said. Rael is the author of
the book “Borderwall as Architecture,” “a timely re-examination of what the 650 miles of physical barrier that divides the
United States of America from the United Mexican States is, and could be.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12859"
ly o) fy :
align="alignnone" width="512"] mates, SAPP wes as Sl Ronald
Rael riding one of the seesaws after installation{/caption] [caption id="attachment_12850" align="alignright" width="600"]
h A set of pink seesaws leads to
fun along the US Mexico border wall this week, near Ciudad de Juarez Mexico. Photo by Christian Chavez/AP[/caption]
Embedded iframe at https://web.archive.org/web/20210000000000/https://www.youtube-
nocookie.com/embed/7wzcoS5geQFo
And to learn more about Ronald Rael's ideas about the subversive use of architecture and his amazing sensitivity to the
many aspects of the border wall, how it was designed and what it means. I highly recommend this 11 minute video of his
TED talk, "An Architect's Subversive Reimagining Of The US-Mexico Border Wall" given in 2018. It's both beautiful and
profound!
Embedded iframe at
https://web.archive.org/web/20210000000000/https://embed.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ronald_rael_an_architect_s_subversive_ reimagining _o
