Station # 14
Gathering of Gigants
Netherlands

Joop J. Beljon
(1922 - 2002)

Beljon was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands.  He studied monumental sculpture and lapidary inscriptions and did typographical projects.  He was a professor of industrial design at different universities in Holland and Director of the Royal Academy of Fine and Applied Arts at The Hague.  He experimented with various materials like concrete, copper, wood, plastic and textiles.  He worked with sculpture and design to achieve a synthesis of both in the search for creating sculptural furniture.

Gathering of Giants is made up of seven different figures that together form a compact ensemble of masses in reference to Mesoamerican constructions.  The highest reaches 10 meters.  The different bodies present colors that were suggested by Goeritz to Beljon in 1968, inspired by the Mexican sun that so captivated the artists that participated in the Route.  Beljon changed the colors during the first restoration in 2004 to oranges, yellows, pinks and violets.  It was restored in 2004 by ING.

Original Location: Cloverleaf Interchange of Periférico and Viaducto Tlalpan on
Periférico South-North direction