The Floating Piers installation by Christo

For sixteen days, from June 18 to July 3, 2016 (weather permitting), Italy’s Lake Iseo will be reimagined. One hundred thousand square meters of shimmering yellow fabric, flowing on top of a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density polyethylene cubes, undulate with the movement of the waves as The Floating Piers rise barely above the surface of the water.

Visitors can experience the installation by walking on it from Sulzano to Monte Isola and to the island of San Paolo, which is surrounded on all sides by The Floating Piers.

About The Floating Piers

The Floating Piers was first conceived by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1970. It is Christo’s first large-scale project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized The Gates in New York’s Central Park in 2005, and since Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009. Christo has a long history of creating projects in Italy: Wrapped Fountain and Wrapped Medieval Tower in Spoleto, 1968; Wrapped Monuments in Milan, 1970; and The Wall – Wrapped Roman Wall in Rome, 1973–74.

“Like all of our projects, The Floating Piers is absolutely free and accessible 24 hours a day, weather permitting,” said artist Christo. “There are no tickets, no openings, no reservations and no owners. The Floating Piers are an extension of the street and belong to everyone … Those who experience The Floating Piers will feel like they are walking on water – or perhaps the back of a whale. The light and water will transform the bright yellow fabric to shades of red and gold throughout the sixteen days.”

Lake Iseo is located 100 kilometers east of Milan and 200 kilometers west of Venice.

Follow The Florentine’s live feed, thanks to our correspondent Andrea Paoletti, from Lake Iseo on Twitter.

Updated Saturday June 18 with additional photos / 22:19pm