Children play on pink teeter-totters created and installed briefly at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019. The brainchild of San Jose State Associate Professor of Design Virginia San Fratello and her husband, U.C. Berkeley Professor of Architecture Ronald Rael, the art installation was named 2020 Best Design of the Year by the Design Museum in London. (Photo courtesy of Ronald Rael/Instagtram)

The bright pink teeter-totters installed along the U.S. Mexico border that recently piqued the world’s curiosity were designed by a professorial husband-and-wife team from the Bay Area.

The art installation, which this month won a prestigious award from the Design Museum in London, was dreamed up and installed by San Jose State Associate Professor of Design Virginia San Fratello and her husband, U.C. Berkeley Professor of Architecture Ronald Rael.

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Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.