Cancun Announces New Pyramid of Positive Thinking in Tulum

As part of the commemoration to the year 2012 and the closing of the Mayan calendar, artist Xavier de Maria y Campos is constructing a modern pyramid to pay tribute to the Mayans’ legacy and precision regarding their calendar. The Pyramid of Positive Thinking will be located in Tulum, approximately 82 miles from Cancun’s hotel zone.

The pyramid consists of writing a positive thought on a piece of paper and placing it inside a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle to create the pyramid structure. This pyramid is about 40-by-40-feet wide and will host up to 700,000 positive thoughts.
Constructed by using a metal structural frame as the base of the pyramid, alternate layers of PET bottles will be layered with soil containing regional plant seeds that eventually will grow into a green covering over the pyramid. In time, the metal frame will biodegrade and a small 40-foot-high pyramid of foliage will remain.

The top of this pyramid will be crowned by a three-dimensional structure covered with stainless steel plates that will reflect the sun's rays during the day and create artificial light at night in all four directions.

The project is part of Cancun’s 2012 campaign to commemorate the Mayan calendar and the beginning of a new era. The Mayans predicted that Dec. 21, 2012, would be the end of the 13th Baktuns, or cosmic winters, when the light returns to the world and an anticipated springtime will begin.

For those who cannot visit Cancun this year, positive thoughts can be submitted using the official Facebook page -- Pyramid of Positive Thinking 2012 or Piramide del Pensamiento Positivo Homenaje a la Cultura Maya. Each month, these thoughts will be printed and placed inside individual PET bottles to be part of this great positive thinking generator. The Pyramid at Aldea Zama in Tulum is a 1.5-hour drive from Cancun and is open for visitors every day between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.