Seesaws win prize - 1st February 2021

An installation of highlighter pink seesaws positioned across the US-Mexico border has been named the 2020 Design of the Year by London's Design Museum.

Children and adults on both sides of the border are able to interact with each other using the devices. The vivid pink seesaws balanced between struts of the metal border wall, bridging the divide between the two countries. Even though the installation survived less than half an hour, it received widespread attention after video footage of people using the seesaws spread across social media.

Ronald Rael, a professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and Virginia San Fratello, an associate professor of design at San José State University, are the pair behind the seesaws. They first came up with the idea a decade ago. Their aim was to use humour to start honest conversations about the border.

The seesaws act as a metaphor for US-Mexico relations. "Children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides," Rael wrote at the time. "The actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side."

In addition to Design of the Year, the Design Museum also awards prizes for innovations in product, architecture, digital, fashion, graphics and transport. Museum director Tim Marlow commented: ""The Teeter-Totter Wall encouraged new ways of human connection."

“We are totally surprised by this unexpected honour,” Rael said of their win. “Most importantly, it comes at a time when we are hopeful for change and that we start building more bridges instead of walls.”