Developed for the Lisboa Expo ‘98 in Lisbon, Portugal, this water feature is defined by a series of six conical towers and rivers that link themselves along the median of the Exposition’s main pedestrian boulevard.

Each tower is located at an intersection along the promenade and rests atop a platform. Extending out from each platform are rivers that flow along the axis. The feature is intended to punctuate the intersections of the boulevard with the towers, while emphasizing the promenade’s length and throw with the linear rivers that link the intersections.

The towers and rivers are clad with vibrantly colored ceramic tiles, each river cone element in a different family of hues. The result is a spectral range from resonant reds to cool blues and greens in progression form one end of the boulevard to the other.

Two-meter-tall bursts of water erupt in choreographed sequences from atop each of the cones. The water falls in a torrent that cascades over each conical form, impacting the platform below. The water then washes the platform and falls into the adjacent rivers. Accompanying this flow are periodic “soliton waves” which are clear, crestless swells of water that rise above the river’s surface and progress at uniform speed down the length of the waterway. The visual clarity of each soliton renders it as a moving lens of water that refracts and pleasingly distorts the tile color pattern beneath.

Color, form and water kinetics combine to create a work that can be experienced as six individual focal points, or as one unified, grand progression.