The Bracero Monument

PrizeHonorable Mention in Landscape Architecture /
Firm LocationLos Angeles, United States
CompanyMetropolitanmomentuM
Lead ArchitectPablo Osorio and Maria Kuzminskaia
Design TeamPablo Osorio and Maria Kuzminskaia
ClientPublic Art Division, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles
Project Videohttp://

The Bracero Monument attempts to touch the human spirit by telling their stories and relating to people in a beautiful way. Once people arrive at the site, they see five individual metal bars embedded in the ground and sidewalk. The bars are separated by vegetated rows. These vegetated stripes represent crops. The metal embedded in the ground portraits the Bracero being one with the land. The long metal solid bar represents his path being forged at the fields. It becomes a path of dreams. It bends upwards departing from the ground standing vertically. The bar takes unique forms. It represents the individuality of each man and his own hopes for the future. The bars have words on them. They are visible to pedestrians. The words are a compilation of letters from an individual Bracero worker writing to his loved ones. The letters tell unique stories about the man. Each bar embedded in the ground describes the Bracero’s emotions, thoughts, and personal experiences. The bar keeps rising up with words telling stories of his aspirations taking shape. As the words elevate higher and higher making it almost impossible to read them, the monument continues rising up in the form of light.