A glimmer of humanity at the US-Mexico border wall

A series of seesaws have been installed on the border fence that separates the US and Mexico.

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The border wall that splits the USA and Mexico has been used to divide people – literally and politically. Now two architects have found a way to unite those separated by the split: bright pink seesaws.

Ronald Rael, an architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Virginia San Fratello, an assistant professor at San José State University in California, came up with the idea for a seesaw on the border in 2009.

The original design for the seesaw. Source: University of California

Built on both sides of a slatted steel border fence in Sunland Park, New Mexico, the seesaws were installed from the US with no prior planning from Mexican side – an act the designers have called ‘unifying’.

“One of the most incredible experiences of my and Virginia San Fratello’s career [is] bringing to life the conceptual drawings of the Teeter-Totter Wall from 2009 in an event filled with joy, excitement, and togetherness at the borderwall,” Rael said.

A mexican soldier walks in front of American and Mexican families playing on the seesaw. Source: AFP

“The wall became a literal fulcrum for U.S. – Mexico relations and 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.”

The border wall with Mexico has become a divisive political issue in the USA, with a key tenet of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign being the construction of a larger fence to halt immigration.

On Friday the US Supreme Court cleared the President to tap into US$2.5 billion of the Defense Department's counter-drug money to build more than 160 kilometres of the wall.

Source: AFP

American and Mexican families play won the seesaw Source: AFP