Cesar E. Chavez Monument

About This Project

Cesar E. Chavez Monument – Workshop Hakomori Yantrasast/ Judith F. Baca – San Jose, CA

César Chávez, the world-renowned human rights activist lived east of the University campus in San José, the closest major city to the fields where he rose to fame as a farm worker and union organizer. San Jose State University is the home of this 22-foot tall arch with an inlaid glass eagle, the U.F.W.’s emblem. Decorative tile murals depict people, concepts, symbols and historical events central to Chávez’s life and the movement he led. In the evening, lights illuminate the arch. The 22 foot tall monument consists of two tube steel braced frame leg structures with the roof and glass sculpture forming the arch. The monument sits on a grade beams and drilled pier foundations over an existing underground utility tunnel. Structurally, a challenge emerged with the requirement to provide structural support for the 2-inch thick, 6400 pound, translucent glass eagle sculpture and an access platform, while keeping the structure invisible. This was accomplished using a space frame of steel angles set back in the space, which hung off of the platform structure supported by the leg structures of the arch. Completed in 2008.