Praça Pôr do Sol

This guide to Praça Pôr do Sol in São Paulo follows the Pinheiros River curling through the valley below and a 1925 scheme by the Light and Power company to make it run backward, uphill into a mountain reservoir, instead of draining to the sea. American engineer Asa Billings built pumping stations at two spots nicknamed Traição and Pedreira, betrayal and quarry, before a revolution, floods, and money trouble stalled the whole project for years.