The Floating Piers, Christo & Jeanne-Claude

Arts , Food - Drink - Wandering , Public spaces - Hacking , Urbanism Jun 18, 2016 No Comments

This is the new performance of Christo, “specialist” of the long veil on the public space: artificial floating piers on the Italian Iseo Lake, covered by an orange veil. Really interestingly, these floating links redesign the geographical area by ignoring the difference between water and soil (the veil is running also in the streets), natural shape of the region by linking three elements -normally separated by the waters of the lake- together. Really nice work of hacking topography and space!

Some figures:

100,000 m2 of shimmering yellow fabric wrap
3 km of piering
1,5 km of wrapping streets
16 days of performing: 18th June to 3rd July
46 years old project
project of 15 million euros
22 months of working for preparing the installation
0€, free access, open 24/7
11 years since the last outdoor Christo installation

“”I know these projects are totally irrational, totally useless, ” he added. “The world can live without them, nobody needs them, only me and Jeanne-Claude. She was always made the point that they exist because we like to have them and if others like them, it’s only a bonus.” […] Christo said it was about positively exploiting “the incredible chemistry of humans” from all walks of life, each member of the team focusing energy on “something that does not exist” — to the point where it does. He was also relieved that there was never a discussion with officials about installing a safety fence along the sides of the walkway, allowing visitors to walk to the edge of the water. “The moment you have a parapet, forget it,” he said, the feeling of walking on water is gone. […] “Lake Iseo won’t be the same after this event,” said Fiorello Turla, the mayor of Monte Isola. “Monte Isola will change skin,” as its exposure to the global spotlight puts it on the map, he added. “It’s a great opportunity that we’ve been given and that we want to seize and bring forward.”” (extracts from The New York Times article)

“‘like all of our projects, ‘the floating piers’ is absolutely free and accessible 24 hours a day, weather permitting,’ christo says. ‘there are no tickets, no openings, no reservations and no owners. the floating piers are an extension of the street and belong to everyone.’” (extract from the DesignBoom article)