Venice Waterway Gateway, Italy structure, Biennale Architettura 2025, Venetian modern architecture photos

Gateway to Venice’s Waterway

8 May 2025

Architecture: Norman Foster Foundation and Porsche

Location: Venice, Italy

Photos © Pablo Gómez Ogando

Venice Waterway Gateway, Italy

For the Norman Foster Foundation Team and Porsche, the Biennale Architettura 2025 marks the beginning of a new creative collaboration, in which product design and architecture collide to explore the future of mobility.

The collaborative endeavour brings together architect Norman Foster and the Norman Foster Foundation Team alongside designers from Porsche to investigate every aspect of mobility—from individual vehicles to infrastructure expanding on the motif of dreams and the theme of the Biennale Architettura 2025 (Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective).

The result is an architectural structure, titled Gateway to Venice’s Waterway—an innovative transportation hub that serves as an exploration into future mobility in Venice and beyond.

‘Dreams were interpreted as aspirations brought to life through design’, says Norman Foster, President, Norman Foster Foundation. ‘In the context of the Biennale, dreams inspired the reimagining of Venice’s transportation infrastructure, bridging heritage and innovation. In architecture, it became a challenge to create a structure that not only functions as a transportation hub, but also resonates emotionally with its users. The biomorphic design reflects the dreamlike interplay of form, function and sustainability’.

Gateway to Venice’s Waterway –a 37-metre-long, animal-like structure, evocative of Venice’s historic network of bridges–is a physical manifestation of the intersection between design and architecture. The design and construction of the outer structure is derived from lightweight technology found in racing cars such as the Porsche 917, which combines a solid aluminium structure (chassis) with a kinetic surface inspired by Porsche’s Kubus pattern.

Both a functional gateway and bridge, the hub actively connects with new electric modes of transportation both on water and land. These include water bikes (Schiller bikes) and motorboats with electric propulsion (Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air boats, utilising an adaptation of the Porsche Macan engine) which will be operating as carbon-free mobility solutions during the opening week of the Venice Biennale. By the vitrines, further demonstrations of alternative urban mobility solutions by students from Porsche Style and Studio F.A. Porsche Zell am See will be on display.

‘Porsche is and remains a brand that is characterized by a highly demanding field of tension between tradition and innovation,’ says Michael Mauer, Vice President Style Porsche. ‘This means that we as a design team are constantly dealing with the question of how we can strategically shape the future of our brand in terms of identity and authenticity. The exchange with Lord Norman Foster and his team is a very valuable source of inspiration. This look beyond the confines of pure vehicle design provides us with important impulses for the consistent, but also future-oriented direction of our brand.’

The first Venice Biennale to be entirely circular and no-waste, this sustainable precedent underscores the entirety of the collaboration where Gateway—from every element in design to implementation, has been carefully created to contemporary sustainability principles.

‘This project encouraged a reimagining of the design philosophy to integrate circular economy principles and car manufacture know-how’, explains Norman Foster. ‘Local materials were incorporated to honour the site’s heritage while reducing the environmental footprint. The collaboration with Porsche enabled us to push boundaries to design with practical, scalable solutions tailored to Venice’s challenges and opportunities’.

Gateway further responds to the immediate transportation challenges in Venice and beyond, designed to migrate and evolve to new locations, in anticipation of the changing demands of global urban mobility. A bridge between heritage and innovation, Gateway embodies the dream of lasting and scalable impact and function, ensuring inclusivity for individuals of all ages and abilities.

The beginning of a new joint venture, Gateway also opens conversations beyond architecture, where we will see the Norman Foster Foundation and Porsche extend their collaboration, delving into the topic of the future of automobile mobility. Joint sketches outlining a vision for the future of individual mobility will be on display, serving as the cornerstone for the continuation of the partnership.

The private preview of Gateway at The Arsenale took place on the 7 and 8 May, alongside a series of events at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta. The installation will be open to the public from 10 May for the duration of the Biennale Architettura 2025.

The team leading The Art of Dreams includes the Norman Foster Foundation Team, alongside with Christopher Hornzee-Jones, Aerotrope; Miguel Kreisler, BAU; Michael Mauer, Porsche; Ragnar Schulte, Porsche.

The 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, curated by Carlo Ratti, is open to the public from 10 May to 23 November 2025.

Additional Quotes:
‘Dreaming evokes a sense of limitless possibilities and the courage to envision what does not yet exist. It is about imagining bold solutions to seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this project, dreaming meant envisioning a Venice where historic preservation and advanced mobility coexist, creating a blueprint for urban innovation that respects the past while embracing the future’–Norman Foster, President, Norman Foster Foundation

‘The collaboration between the Norman Foster Foundation Team and Porsche shared values of innovation, sustainability and design excellence’. Porsche’s The Art of Dreams provided the perfect platform to merge the worlds of advanced mobility and visionary architecture. The focus was on creating a holistic, impactful solution that celebrates Venice’s character while addressing its pressing urban mobility challenges’–Norman Foster, President, Norman Foster Foundation

Architects: Norman Foster Foundation – https://normanfosterfoundation.org/