The Norman Foster Foundation and Porsche collaborated to create the Gateway to Venice’s Waterway which is set to debut at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The installation addresses Venice’s existing transportation difficulties while proposing adaptable and sustainable futures.
The 37-meter-long structure serves as a bridge and hub reimagining mobility while honoring the city’s renowned footbridges. Norman Foster describes the exhibit as a proposition, ‘In the context of the Biennale, the dreams have inspired the re-imagination of Venice’s transport infrastructure,’ showing how the project merges history and modernity.
The gateway functions as an active node in a zero-emission mobility network featuring a lightweight aluminum frame and kinetic skin inspired by Porsche design. Sustainability was a core principle thereby locally sourced materials and modular construction promote a circular approach. Foster states, ‘This project pushed us to rethink our design philosophy to fully integrate circular economy principles,’
The collaborators have created sketches of future mobility since this is even a part of Porsche’s ‘The Art of Dreams’ initiative. Foster described it as a prototype for inclusive and accessible transportation hubs for all ages and abilities. Visitors can learn about the project’s design and construction at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta and the Gateway at the Arsenale.
Imagining the future of architecture and urban transport
Foster says, ‘The dream is not static, It must be scalable, useful, and poetic.’
He reflects on his long-held fascination with mass-producing buildings like automobiles which is a concept still unrealized since the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, Porsche’s design team considered the partnership with Norman Foster a valuable opportunity to rethink brand identity, mixing heritage with innovation and drawing inspiration from sources other than vehicle design.
Foster concludes, ‘Dreaming awakens a sense of limitless possibilities and the courage to imagine what does not yet exist. It’s about imagining bold solutions to seemingly insurmountable challenges,’
‘In this project, dreaming meant imagining a Venice where historic preservation and advanced mobility coexist. We have created a blueprint for urban innovation that respects the past while embracing the future.’
The gateway combines dream, design and sustainability to reflect this year’s Biennale theme of ‘Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective’ while ensuring minimal impact and sparking maximal imagination.
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