I discovered this building with its colorful wall in Maras, Peru at the site of the ancient salt pans or ponds, known locally as the Salineras de Maras.

I was struck by how the rectangular colored shapes on the wall echoed the rectangular plots of salt, and how the edges on the wall’s painted shapes were modified to accommodate the roof line in the same manner that the mostly rectangular plots were modified to fit the contours of the terraced hillside.

There are thousands of these salt ponds on the hillside. An underground stream rich in salt and minerals water was discovered here by pre-Inca communities. They made channels to direct the stream into the ponds. The ponds are tended by local families much as they have been for centuries.