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Pink seesaws that turned part of US-Mexico border into playground wins Design of the Year prize

<p>Families play with the seesaw over the Mexican border with US at the Anapra zone in Ciudad Juarez</p> (AFP via Getty Images)

Families play with the seesaw over the Mexican border with US at the Anapra zone in Ciudad Juarez

(AFP via Getty Images)

Three pink seesaws that turned the border wall between Mexico and the US into a temporary playground have won the Design of the Year competition.

The project, that brought together children on both side of the border, was hailed by the judges in the competition organised by the Design Museum.

The boundary between the two countries is one of the busiest in the world. It is also politically controversial with outgoing US President Donald Trump making the construction of a new, longer barrier to keep out illegal immigrants a key theme of his presidency.

The seesaws - called Teeter-Totters in the US - were slotted into gaps in the steel boundary that was already in place on the border, following 10 years of planning by designers in both countries.

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They only stayed in place for 20 minutes but the judges for the Beazley Design of the Year 2020 said the project was the clear winner.

 The ‘Teeter-Totter Wall’ was designed by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo ChopekeAFP via Getty Images
The ‘Teeter-Totter Wall’ was designed by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo ChopekeAFP via Getty Images

Razia Iqbal, who chaired the 2020 judges, said: “This was an idea that really moved the judges. Not just something that felt symbolically important, it talked about the possibility of things; that all kinds of things are possible when people come together with great ideas and determination.”

Design Museum Chief Executive and Director Tim Marlow said the project was “seriously playful and playfully serious”.

He said: “The Teeter-Totter Wall was originally installed for only 20 minutes in 2019 across the US/Mexico border, but it encouraged new ways of human connection and struck a chord that continues to resonate far beyond El Paso in the USA and Juarez in Mexico. It remains an inventive and poignant reminder of how human beings can transcend the forces that seek to divide us.”

Other projects recognised by the judges include a meatless burger, a school that can be built and dismantled quickly so it can be moved by farmers forced off their land in India and a 3D rendering of the coronavirus which shows it as viewed through a microscope and includes the spiky sphere that has become such a common sight since the start of the pandemic.

The museum in Kensington is hosting a virtual experience for this year’s awards with a complete 360 degree 3D rendering of the exhibition and footage of the designers explaining their work.

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