Reposting from 2015 - Veracruz Commemorates 100 yeas of Jewish Immigration

[Xipe Totec]

The Project conceptualizes a bearing wall that supports 100 sculpted stone pieces on one side and 400 suspended stone lines on the other side, symbolizing Mexico as the gate to its land.

Each of these 100 pieces, commemorate each year that the Jewish community has been living in Mexico, that they now consider theirs. At the same time those commemorative pieces with rough and robust finishes tell us about the ships and immigrants arriving.

http://architizer.com/projects/100-years-of-jewish-immigration-through-veracruz-port-in-mexico-parallel-lives/


The significance of the number 400

On the opposite side of the wall the 100 pieces multiply to 400, demonstrating the birth of the new families. These 400 pieces experience a refining and polishing process while penetrating the wall, symbolizing a Mexico that offers overcome opportunities, facing a new life as a community.

What the author of the article missed, is the symbolic meaning of the number 400.

400 in the Nahuatl tongue, Centzon, does not only mean the literal 400, it is also the equivalent of infinity, or countless.

The mocking bird is called Centzontle; the bird of 400 (countless) voices.

Thus, from 100 representing the years, to 400 representing the countless Jewish Mexicans now enriching our culture.

It is a beautiful, though often missed point of the sculpture.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/12231636