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Floating piers on Lake Iseo are a crowd puller

Already more than 1.2 million people have visited the Floating Piers

 

When the project was announced, forecasts were made that between 650.00 and 750.000 visitors would visit Lake Iseo in northern Italy to visit the floating piers. However, a lot more visitors came and there are still coming.  By the end of June, 1.2 million people had visited the Floating Piers, according local mayor Valerio Valenti.  

Valenti said that the project is a huge success for Lake Iseo region.  ‘The balance is very, very positive. This is a mega success. All were sceptical and almost nobody would have imagined such a rush of visitors in advance.’

And for the last weekend of the “Floating Piers” hundreds of thousands visitors more are expected on Lake Iseo between Bergamo and Brescia. The installation will be closed on 3 July at midnight.

 

Valenti also admitted that the infrastructure has come to its limit. But the commitment of the authorities and forces made it possible to meet this challenge. He expressly thanked also the people around the Lake Iseo, “their great courtesy and hospitality”  is an important part of the success.

The prefect was asked the question: “What remains of Christos work in the region after the project has finished?” “Physically seen – nothing,” Valenti said. He hopes, however, that in the future the same tourists who went to the nearby Lake Garda or to Lake Como, will now also come in the very attractive Lake Iseo region.

The Floating piers are recyclable. After the 16 days of installation they will be broken down and recycled. We say, “The” Floating Piers “are then destroyed, and they will no longer exist in this form, but they will remain in your hearts.”

The Floating Piers

Christo „The Floating Piers“ – walking over the water – three kilometer long swimming piers to an island in Lake Iseo

For his newest project The Floating Piers, world-famous artist Christo has chosen one of the most beautiful regions in Italy. Christo will realise his new spectacular art-in-nature-project in the northern part of Italy at Lake Iseo. Outside of Italy, very few have heard of Lake Iseo but this project may change that.  Lake Iseo has one of the largest islands in a lake in Europe and as Lonely Planet has put it on the Top 10 list for 2016, a run on accommodation in the area has started.

 

Christo and his crew visited the northern Italian lakes in spring and summer of 2014 to find out which lake was appropriate for his project. They chose Lake Iseo as they considered it to be the most inspiring place for this innovation – to walk on water.  Lake Iseo is just over eighty kilometers east of Milan and two hundred kilometers west of Venice. Once they had decided on where, they needed to get the necessary paperwork completed which consisted of such things as planning permission.

Christo had not worked in Italy for over forty years.  Together with his partner Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, he  transformed several buildings in Italy, making themselves famous in the process. For example, during the Festival dei due mondi in 1974 he completed the Wrapped Fountain and Wrapped Medieval Tower projects in Spoleto.

The floating piers aims to link the shores of the lake with  Monte Isola and San Paolo islands with jetties sixteen meters wide and three kilometers long.  One will be able to walk on water from 18 June to 3 July 2016.

Between seventy thousand and ninety thousand square metres of high tech nylon in shimmering yellow-orange with two hundred thousand connected polyethylene cubes will temporary give a totally new look to the lake and attract visitors from all over the world. Streets in nearby Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio will also be draped with the shiny material. Christo says that these bridges will move with the waves. Access will be from everywhere possible and there will be no charge for the experience.

This project will offer extraordinary views over Lake Iseo, Monte Isola and to the places around the lake. One will be able to see it from a long way, it will be clearly visible from the sourrounding mountain roads.  Once you have walked to your hearts content, why not end your day with a romantic dinner on Monte Isola in Castello Oldofredi with a glass of Franciacorta, the sparkling wine from the region.

 

Der Iseo See

Der Iseo See – Insider kennen ihn schon lange und hüten dieses Geheimnis wie ihren Augapfel. Und in der Tat, wenn Sie jemanden fragen, ob sie oder er den in Norditalien gelegenen Iseo See kennt, wird eine Verneinung die wahrscheinlichste Antwort sein. Doch, da der weltbekannte Verpackungskünstler Christo, der den deutschen Reichstag 1995 verhüllt hat, nun den Iseo See für sein neuestes Projekt „The Floating Piers“ vom 18.06. – 03.07.2016 ausgesucht hat, ist es höchste Zeit, dieses unbekanntes Stück Italien zu entdecken und dieses Geheimnis zu lüften, meint Iseo-See-Experte Armin H. Müller. Continue reading →