The Nabor Carrillo Reservoir, a human-built lagoon shaped like a flawless rectangle, lies in the middle of an enormous span of land which, a few decades before, contained water from the original lake of Texcoco. A lake nested on a lake. The “artificial” one is a perfectly defined geometrical shape. The “natural” one is an ever-changing outline bent on disappearing. In the middle of Nabor Carrillo an island was erected, and on its surface, a cabin. Next to the island, on top of a few surfacing rocks, a couple of flamingos—emblematic survivors of the ancient lake’s disappearance—built its nest. On the shore of this new lake, a pier was built, to provide mooring for potential boats. This should enable short trips to the island, bringing in visitors, athletes, biologists, tourists, and boat enthusiasts. The boards and columns of the pier were all painted light blue: the recently created National Water Commission (Conagua) had just arrived at the terrains of Lake Texcoco, replacing both the Ministry of Hydraulic Resources and the Lake Texcoco Commission: these institutions defined the lake’s territorial borders in 1971, anticipating the future of this site. Conagua left its mark on all constructions, painting everything light blue, touting its specificity by means of an institutional color. [...]
Pier
in ENCYCLOPEDIA