WaterColor Digital Rendition of Uxmal Theories

The idea of a moving palimpsest through varying layers of constructions that establish a chronological memory of previous constructions and previous life of the Mayans resonates throughout the site.

A heavily carved into, as well as built upon, landscape creates a level of hierarchy.
The land is raised and carved into in varying layers, thus creating layer upon layer of information. The pyramids themselves are also split up into varying layers of elevation as new constructions are built over and integrated into old ones. This variance in scale sets up a moment of hierarchy not only within the building, but amongst the Mayan people as well. The king, surrounded by upper class citizens, or servants would sit atop the highest plat form and preside over his people. This is very much the same for the temple. The new construction presides over the old conserving a memory of time, as well as establishing a type of internal hierarchy that can only be guessed at from the outside.

The site itself is oriented towards the Mayan's highly revered deity Venus. The entire site resonates a certain rhythm of non-equilateral geometric shapes resembling mostly trapezoids and rhombus'. These shapes do not appear to be perfect squares as ones eye would most likely be accustomed to see, but instead are slanted by varying degrees. These varying slants are actually quite apropos, because they are oriented to line themselves up with a cosmological sign in the sky, as well as to direct the central axis of their site towards Venus.

This only adds to the layers of information that their site contains about their life and culture. The varying constructions themselves also add a challenge to the relatively horizontal movement that takes place in the site of Uxmal. When experiencing any of the varying constructions in the site the eyes are drawn towards the sky; even the path you must take to reach the end of the construction is strictly vertical. This vertical movement challenges a mostly horizontal path that is laid out as the general plan for the site.