This elegant book by Tachen beautifully illustrates design artwork in a remarkable design project.
From June 18 to July 3, 2016, 100 kilometres east of Milan and 200 kilometres west of Venice, The Floating Piers by Christo and Jeanne-Claude allowed 1.2 million people to walk on water. The project, comprising 100,000 square meters of shimmering dahlia yellow fabric above a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density polyethylene cubes created a three-kilometre walkway across the surface of Lake Iseo, connecting the mainland to the islands of Monte Isola and San Paolo.
“It is all about walking,” said Christo of the project. “Including the stretches on the land, you have to walk five kilometres to appreciate the project, the constantly changing views, the lake, the mountains, the other visitors. All these things together are the final artwork.” The experience was as tactile as it was visual, a multisensory wonder of undulating fabric, shimmering yellow, and ever-shifting light upon the water.
In this Collector’s Edition (No. 161–1,000), signed and designed by Christo himself, the artist presents this extraordinary environmental work from start to finish. On 846 pages, he reveals the couple’s earliest concept of a floating surface on tranquil waters back in 1970 through renewed interest in the project, research into possible locations, technical developments, material production, and the final 16-day experience with enraptured visitors from around the world.
To round off this unique project book and privileged insight into Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s practice, the volume includes a swatch of the project’s original dahlia yellow fabric. Limited Collector’s Edition of 840 copies signed by Christo and Wolfgang Volz, each with a 24 x 24 cm swatch of The Floating Piers’ original dahlia yellow fabric.
Also available as four different Limited Art Editions, each with a separate project book signed by Christo and Wolfgang Volz.
The Floating Piers
Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Wolfgang Volz, Germano Celant, Adam Blackbourn
Hardcover in slipcase with piece of fabric and six fold-out pages, 29 x 27 cm, 846 pages. €750
ISBN 978-3-8365-4787-1 (English, Italian)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Floating Piers
Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Wolfgang Volz, Jonathan William Henery
Softcover with flaps, 23.5 x 29 cm, 128 pages
€19.99
www.taschen.com
Photos © Christo. Photo: Wolfgang Volz
