Salar de Uyuni

The site chosen to analyze was the Salar de Uyuni. By researching the mythology of the site, a link to the story of Atlantis was discovered. The Aymara people who are natives to the site, believe that the Andes hold the true story and relics of Atlantis. The story comes up so frequently in the tales of the surrounding area, that I felt it essential to have have portions of the legendary story encapsulated within the analytical mappings of the site. Portions of Plato’s Timeaus text were included, as well as images of salt seen with a microscope. The Salar is a spiritual landscape. The natives are known to have a spiritual connection to the milky-way. Not its stars, but the black splotches in between. They represent animals such as the serpent or llama, which look over and protect those animals on earth. The natives are also known to have starved black llamas so that their tears could call for rain. The model depicts a large cistern built into the salar. A large overhead with multiple layers was chosen to protect the cistern from the sun. Light cannons also penetrate the overhead at certain moments. The water housed within the cistern is sacred, and therefore is not for people to bathe in.