Arizona Falls is a real hydroelectric plant on one of Phoenix's canals, on 56th Street and Indian School, and it's remarkably playful, engaging spot. It generates enough electricity for about 150 hours. There is no credited archtiect so you can chalk this up to a"'non-registrant".

It includes a set of curvy roofs including one perforated with holes, the old giant gears of the previous hydroelectric house lurking enigmatically under the waterfall, a dance floor, and a security guard on site 24 hours a day.

Its pleasures come from exploration of this inexplicable thing, so I'm not going to explain it. The place is photogenic, accessible, produces great noises (the smells aren't great, but shrug) and is close to a very good neighborhood coffeeshop and a great used bookstore on Indian School.

The designers are the Harries / Héder Collaborative based in Cambridge. That's Mags Harries and Lajos Héder and I'm really delighted to find their website because they're responsible for some junk I've been curious about: the Five Pillars of Thought installed in the Scottsdale Public Library, and the infamous pots installed along the Squaw Peak Parkway (some of which are aesthetically objectionable, true, but that's a fair price for experimenting, and the minor controversy whipped up by a few ill-humored unimaginative lunkheads over those pots on the freeway made all Phoenicians seem goat-minded and threw a poor light on the overall project of incorporating sculpture along the freeways, some of which, like the Tale of the Three Geckos sequence on the 101 in North Scottsdale, is remarkable), and, AND, also remarkable and genius, the teapot.

Again, there's no explaining this. And I hope the inclusion of their presentation drawing confuses the issue further. (Click on the drawing to enter their website.)