Sparking a Connection Between Visitors and the Surrounding Environment Through Light and Sound
Molecules is a series of five interactive water molecules rising up from the Arizona Canal that come to life through the interactions of its users and the surrounding environment in Scottsdale, Arizona. The installation, created by The Urban Conga, is meant to showcase that, much like our communities, the water within the canal is created by a series of interpersonal connections between neighboring elements coming together around conflicting reactions.

A women takes a photo of herself reflected onto the side of one of the Molecules.
Photo credit: Charles Darr
Molecules was developed as an open-ended play experience talking about the climate crisis and our personal impact on the environment around us. The work allows people to look at how their individual response or action can impact a larger reaction, and that when we can work together with our neighbors it generates an even larger reaction. The utilization of the work and its reflection of light and sound as a component of play helps break down social barriers and allows people to connect and converse on a sometimes-uncomfortable conversation within the space, leading users to think about the water below and where it is going, who owns it, and how precious it is.

Parts of the forms were open to frame out views of the surrounding area and create unique mirroring inside the work both at night and during the day.
Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
The piece contains five sets of water molecules, or a total of ten hydrogen and five oxygen atoms floating above the canal. Each molecule reacts to its user, the surrounding context, and the interactions between them by providing a playful opportunity for discovery. During the day, the work responds to the natural light by shifting and changing colors based on the angle in which it is viewed. Each panel takes on the identity of a screen reflecting the motion of the landscape and people passing by. The molecules line the edge of the canal, allowing for people to get close to the work and play with their reflections within the icosahedral spheres’ unique mirroring of color and light. At night, each molecule is illuminated from within by LED lighting that responds to visitors’ voices. An interaction point located at each molecule indicates where people’s voices can begin to shift and change the lighting of the work, highlighting the reflection that one’s voice has on the environment around them. As people talk, sing, and yell at the interaction point, the work begins to talk back; people begin to share their stories, tell it their dreams, yell out their frustrations, and even sing songs to the installation. Looking across the canal, people can see the conversations from afar as the lights pulsate and change colors based on the volume and tone of their voices. It transforms the edge of the canal into a spontaneous place for people to converse, connect, dance, sing, and play together.
- Reflections of molecules onto the water. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- The forms hug the edge of the canal in parts to allow visitors to get close and capture different reflections of color and light. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- The installation was designed to appear as if they are rising up out of the water. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- A series of interactive water molecules rising up from the Arizona Canal. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- Reflections of Molecules on the Arizona Canal with the McDowell Mountain Range in the background. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- Residents checking out the reflections of Molecules at sunset. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- Visitors playing with the lighting of Molecules through their voice. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- Molecules reacting to people controlling the lights at night with their voices. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- Photo credit: Charles Darr
- Molecules during sunset at the Canal Convergence event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- Photo credit: Charles Darr
- A young girl yells into the interactive microphone to see her voice bring Molecules to life and shift the lighting. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- A couple sees how their voice begins to have impact on the work. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- Molecules during the annual Canal Convergence event in Scottsdale, AZ. Photo credit: Sabrina Thompson
- Visitors taking in the work on the Soleri Bridge on the Arizona Canal. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- A kid yells into the work to see his voice shift and change the lighting. Photo credit: Charles Darr
- View looking down the Arizona canal of the work reflecting off the water. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage
- The molecules illuminating a single color until someone engages with the work using their voice. Photo credit: Charles Darr
The Urban Conga
The Urban Conga is an award-winning multidisciplinary design studio based in Brooklyn, NY, led by Ryan Swanson and Maeghann Coleman, AIA. The studio is focused on sparking community interaction and social activity through open-ended play. Their work encourages people to think about the value of play beyond the playground, and how creating more play everywhere can dramatically impact our daily lives. To achieve this, they utilize play methodologies as a critical tool within their designs, focusing on creating inclusive, multiscale spatial opportunities that transform once-overlooked or underutilized situations into stimulating creative outlets that evoke our innate drive to discover, explore, and empathize with others through play. Through this work, they have collaborated worldwide with municipal agencies, communities, institutions, private businesses, NGOs, and more, delivering a wide variety of work, from multiscale spatial interventions, to public installations, temporary activations, workshops, development plans, and public policy recommendations.