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For sixteen days – June 18 through July 3, 2016 – Italy’s Lake Iseo was reimagined. 100,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric, carried by a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density polyethylene cubes, undulated with the movement of the waves as The Floating Piers rose just above the surface of the water.

Visitors were able to experience the work of art by walking on it from Sulzano to Monte Isola and to the island of San Paolo, which was framed by The Floating Piers. The mountains surrounding the lake offered a bird’s-eye view of The Floating Piers, exposing unnoticed angles and altering perspectives. Lake Iseo is located 100 kilometers east of Milan and 200 kilometers west of Venice.

“Like all our projects, The Floating Piers was absolutely free and open to the public,” said Christo. “There were no tickets, no openings, no reservations and no owners. The Floating Piers were an extension of the street and belonged to everyone.”

A 3-kilometer-long walkway was created as The Floating Piers extended across the water of Lake Iseo. The piers were 16 meters wide and approximately 35 centimeters high with sloping sides. The fabric continued along 2.5 kilometers of pedestrian streets in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio.

“Those who experienced The Floating Piers felt like they were walking on water – or perhaps the back of a whale,” said Christo. “The light and water transformed the bright yellow fabric to shades of red and gold throughout the sixteen days.”

In the spring and summer of 2014, Christo, Vladimir Yavachev – Operations Director, Wolfgang Volz – Project Manager and Official Photographer, and Josy Kraft – Registrar/Curator, scouted the lakes of Northern Italy. Along with Project Director Germano Celant, they found Lake Iseo to be the most inspiring location. Since that time they worked alongside team members from around the world to realize The Floating Piers.

The Floating Piers was first conceived by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1970. It was Christo’s first large-scale project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized The Gates in 2005, and since Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009. As with all of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects, The Floating Piers was funded entirely through the sale of Christo’s original works of art. After the 16-day exhibition, all components were removed and industrially recycled.

Right: Collage 2015 in two parts / Pencil, charcoal, pastel, wax crayon, fabric, enamel paint, cut-out photographs by Wolfgang Volz, hand-drawn technical data, map, fabric sample and tape/ Photo: André Grossmann /© 2015 Christo / Ref. # 9-2015

Right: Drawing 2016 in two parts / Pencil, charcoal, wax crayon, pastel, enamel paint, cut-out photograph by Wolfgang Volz, fabric sample, hand-drawn topographic map and data on vellum and tape / Photo: Wolfgang Volz / © 2016 Christo / Ref. AUR 12-2016

Right:Collage 2015 in two parts / Pencil, charcoal, pastel, wax crayon, fabric, enamel paint, cut-out photographs by Wolfgang Volz, hand-drawn technical data, map, fabric sample and tape / Photo: André Grossmann / © 2015 Christo / Ref. # 9-2015

Left: Drawing 2015 in two parts / Pencil, charcoal, wax crayon, pastel, enamel paint, topographic map, cut-out photographs by Wolfgang Volz and fabric sample / Photo: André Grossmann / © 2015 Christo /Ref. # 6-2015

Photos: Wolfgang Volz

Left: At the textile manufacturer Setex, 90,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric are produced, Greven, Germany, August 2014

Center: At a factory in Fondotoce at Lago Magiore, 200,000 high-density polyethylene cubes are manufactured over a period of eight months before delivered to the project’s storage in Montecolino, January 2016

Right: At the headquarters in Montecolino, construction workers assemble the piers, which are produced in 100-meter-long segments and stored outside Montecolino on Lake Iseo, January 2016

Photos: Wolfgang Volz

Left: Commercial divers from France are hired to install the underwater anchors at depths up to 90 meters, March 2016

Right: A diver connects a rope made of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), covered with a polyester protective layer with a breaking load of 20 metric tons, to one of the anchors on the lakebed to keep the piers in place, March 2016

Photos: Wolfgang Volz

Left: Aerial view of the project’s building yard on the Montecolino peninsula (left) and the parking area for the thirty 100 by 16 meter sections on Lake Iseo (right), April 2016

Center: Workers start to encircle the island of San Paolo with the first floating elements, April 2016

Right: One by one, workers install the 100 by 16 meter sections to connect the island of San Paolo with the island of Monte Isola, May 2016

Photos: Wolfgang Volz

Left: The felt that will cover the cubes underneath the yellow fabric is transported from Montecolino to San Paolo island by Elimast Helicopter Service, May 2016

Right: From the evening of June 15 to the evening of June 17, teams unfurl 100,000 square meters of shimmering dahlia-yellow fabric on the piers and pedestrian streets in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio

Photos: Wolfgang Volz

Left: From the evening of June 15 to the evening of June 17, teams unfurl 100,000 square meters of shimmering dahlia-yellow fabric on the piers and pedestrian streets in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio

Center: Workers attach carabiners through grommets in the fabric which is then hooked to a cable under the edge of the floating piers, June 15, 2016

Right: Christo is watching a diver hooking a fabric panel to the side of a floating pier, June 15, 2016