Related Projects

Water Projects
  • Windows on the Floating World

    • A project using refracted light and other day/night lighting effects for a new mixed-use building

  • Xixi Umbrellas

    • Floating umbrella sculptures in the Xixi Wetland Park of Hangzhou, China

  • Terra Fugit

    • A park design that explores the changing Everglades environment to help visitors relate to a rapidly transforming landscape

  • A MoonTide Garden

    • A waste site transformed into a meditative rock garden that interacts with the tides of Portland, ME

  • Drawn Water

    • A permanent piece at the Cambridge, MA Water Treatment Plant about where water comes from and where it goes

  • The Bronx River Golden Ball

    • An annual event in the Bronx and Westchester Co., NY, where the ball focuses diverse communities on the river

  • Kenduskeag Roots

    • Four sites along the river trail using fallen trees and recorded sound

  • River Runes

    • A trail of installations focused on the river at Art Park

  • Winding Down the Charles

    • A performance piece in Cambridge, MA about the length of the river and time

  • River

    • An illusionary river of water, light, and shadow

  • Communal Well

    • A participatory installation in Hawaii about drinking water

  • Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay

    • Proposal for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon

  • Reclamation Art

    • Reclamation Artists Boston

Arizona
  • Passage

    • A multifaceted project for the new South Mountain Community Library, connecting people through words to the landscape of South Phoenix

  • The Zanjero’s Line

    • A recreational path along 4 miles of the Highline Canal in South Phoenix, AZ

  • Arbors & Ghost Trees

    • Bus stops and shaded arbors as markers of transformation and memory along a major road in South Phoenix, AZ

  • Pillars of Thought

    • Transforming architectural elements into guardians of thought in the Scottsdale Public Library

  • Wall Cycle to Ocotillo

    • A trail of 20 sculpture sites mitigating between 5 miles of highway and neighborhoods in Phoenix

  • Lucid Moment

    • Bringing together light, liquid, movement, and space

Alternative Energy
  • SunFlowers, An Electric Garden

    • Sculptural solar collectors provide shade and lighting for a bike path

  • Solar Light Raft

    • A town clock, bell tower, shade canopy, occasional bandstand as well as a symbol of sustainable design for the Eastbridge Town Center

WaterWorks at Arizona Falls

  • Location: Arizona Canal, Phoenix, AZ (2003)
  • Client: Phoenix Art Commission, Salt River Project
  • Size: Generator Room; 40′ x 40′ Site: 600′ x 1000′
  • Materials: Water, land, sandstone, planting, metal
  • Budget: Approximately $6,000,000 including infrastructure
  • Landscape Architect: Steve Martino Associates
  • Photo Credits: Tim Lanterman & Harries/Héder

WaterWorks at Arizona Falls video

WaterWorks at Arizona Falls

WaterWorks is a well used public space, an art environment and a functioning hydro-power plant. The site is focused on the water room and includes a power platform/dance floor; an outdoor classroom; pedestrian bridge; shade structures; seating; riparian terraces; and sustainable plantings, all designed by the artist led team.

The site brings into focus the role of water in the history of Phoenix and in the future of green-energy,  exploring water as both a utilitarian commodity and as a beautiful transformative substance. Surrounded by desert, the site is a lush environment full of water sensations.

The project won the top environmental design award for the Phoenix area.

Arizona Falls

The original Arizona Falls

The Arizona Falls are formed by a 20’ drop along the Arizona Canal. Managed by the Salt River Project (SRP), the Canals of Phoenix are a public utility providing essential water supply and irrigation in a desert climate. Beginning in 1902 the Arizona Falls have been used to generate hydroelectric power. Once a site to be enjoyed, the Arizona Falls and the power plant became removed from the community with the site surrounded with chain link fencing.

The site prior to construction

WaterWorks was part of the renovation the old hydropower station with the SRP, who re-introduced the Hydro Power Demonstration Project as a commitment to green energy. The site has been opened up to the community.

The Water Room

Water is diverted from the canal into two new aqueducts framing each side of the Water Room. The aqueducts release the water back into the canal creating a pair of waterfalls.  The room is lined with water, a generator of ideas and community energy.

The Industrial Artifacts

During excavation of the site, artifacts from the old power plant were discovered buried underground. These artifacts were left in place and incorporated into the final design, referencing the industrial history of this site. Set behind a veil of water at the rear of the Water Room, the gears and pipes transform through the falling water.

The Five Dams

Phoenix and many of Arizona’s other major cities are located in Salt River Valley. The Salt River Project provides irrigation services throughout this area using a series of canals and five dams. The valley includes a variety of geological terrains. To represent the path of the Salt  River at the WaterWorks site, the artists gathered boulders from the site of each of the five dams. The boulders sit on the platform and are labeled with the different dams from which they came. The diversity of stone between each of the five boulders gives a sense  of the geologic variety and history.

Water In the Desert

The concrete floor of the open platform has been acid stained and imprinted with reeds to give the color and texture of flowing water. Within this symbol of the river, poetry written by Alberto Rios has been engraved. His texts explore ideas of water. The text and  floor ask visitors to look closer at the role of water in the desert.

Water Use

Details throughout the WaterWorks site reference the utility of water.  While visitors take pleasure in the watery environment  they are asked to think about water’s function at the site, providing irrigation and electricity.

The Structures

The artists designed with a visual vocabulary that is industrial and references water. The sustainable plantings on the riparian terraces add to the lushness of the site.

Entrance Gate

The Entrance Gate to the facility is made from a 10’ steel-lined water pipe with flanking columns, a water scupper and an electric insulator. The columns  is made from  steel culvert pipe used throughout the facility. The monumental entrance brings the themes explored inside of the facility to the outside.

Eyes on the Canal

Along Indian School Road the canal lies invisible behind its embankments. For a separate project, the artists worked with Steve Martino, Associates to reveal the trail along the canal. Four entrances to the canal bank are marked by the Eyes on the Canal to announce the unseen water.  The pieces contain thousands of glass marbles that play and reflect the sunlight like the water.

back to top