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— announced last February as part of the ‘The Art of Dreams’ initiative—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.

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 Biennale Architettura 2025. 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.

The first Biennale Architettura 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.

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 preview of Gateway at The Arsenale took place on the 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 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.