With the mission of creating an iconic luxury lifestyle destination in the heart of Mexico City, developers Moisés Farca and Siahu Hamui and architect Jean Michel Colonnier of Colonnier y Asociados commissioned WET, the only company of its kind, to design an equally a one-of-a-kind oasis amidst its new retail and dining development. WET completed a unique visual and sensory water experience called Cascadas, that forms the soul of the Oasis Coyoacán mall.

To produce an oasis within a city, WET designed a performing lake environment nestled behind the mall’s frenetic shopping and dining scenes. It features a series of dynamic water walls enveloping an expansive body of water filled with an array of dancing Shooters®, StrobeStars™, multiple light technologies, and fog. The fluid combination of choreographed effects creates a multisensory experience that transports patrons to an enchanted lagoon.

At over 18,000 square feet, the lake’s sheer size is immediately impressive. It is engulfed by a sculpted cliff of volcanic lava stone, which is local to the site and used to reflect the area’s native composition. In homage to Coyoacán’s rich natural heritage, the three large water walls are composed of dark granite stone and rise dramatically to over 17 feet above the surface of the water. The water that gushes over them is meticulously choreographed to invoke a zenlike effect of cascading elegance.

Within the lake, a completely different suite of effects emerges. At unexpected moments, joyful blooms of water surge like liquid fairies breaking through the surface of the lake. These CanopyShooters™, arranged in a diamond-shaped cluster, create an alluring focal point at the front of the lake to draw people to the experience with an element of surprise and playful delight. A combination of deeply saturated colored and crisp white lights illuminate the water as it performs. WET’s proprietary color-changing underwater lights, called PicoRios™, provide a range of colors from calming blues and lush greens to royal purples and rich reds.

At night, the monumental water walls sparkle with the glow of brilliant white light from WET’s ViraLights™. Clouds of fog are infused to render an ethereal mist, which rolls across the surface of the water. A celestial map of lights twinkles romantically under the lake’s surface to reflect the night sky above. These StrobeStars™ seem to hold the heavens, as if the stars have floated down to the earth and landed here to bathe in these dreamlike waters.

The entire space, designed, engineered and choreographed by WET, feels like a magical Oasis: one that is inviting and tranquil—filled with the constant and reviving presence of water. Cascadas allows guests to take a moment to relax and to linger a little while longer in this refuge, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of city life.