Solar Disc; Jacques Moeschal

The Disco Solar, Belgian artist Jacques Moeschal’s Solar Disc, was at one point one of the most prominent symbols of the 1968 Olympics. Commissioned for the Ruta de la Amistad, the monumental work was installed in the Cuicuilco Archaeological Zone. The eighth station on the sculptural route, it represented the country of Belgium, and welcomed athletes to one part of the Olympic Village.

The sculpture grows from a rectangular base upward into two arms. These form an almost complete circle, not quite touching at their upper ends. The work is nearly 18 meters tall and was chosen to represent the Villa Olimpica station on Metrobús line 1.

• Jacques Moeschal (1913–2004) trained as an architect, but came to be known for his sculptural works after the 1958 Brussels exhibition. That work work led to an international career creating monumental sculptures. Some of these are still seen along the highways of Belgium although the artist is not often recalled today.

The work today towers over a open air theater originally intended for athletes during the games. This was restored in 2011 together with work to restore the sculpture. In 2020, the Disco Solar was again cleaned and restored, this time with help from the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the local government of Tlalpan, and the Belgian and German embassies.