Norman Foster and Porsche Explore a New Typology
Norman Foster and Porsche debut a collaborative installation, Gateway to Venice’s Waterway, at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with an architectural gesture that bridges mobility and adaptive urban futures. Foster sees this glimmering gateway as a proposition. ‘In the context of the Biennale, the dreams have inspired the re-imagination of Venice’s transport infrastructure,‘ he says, noting that the project strives to bridge heritage and innovation. The 37-meter-long architectural structure, both a bridge and a hub, draws formal inspiration from Venice’s historic footbridges. At the same time it incorporates advanced materials and design techniques taken from Porsche’s storied history of motorsport engineering. designboom traveled to Venice to visit the space firsthand and speak with Norman Foster about his ambitions behind the project.
Foster and Porsche debut Gateway to Venice’s Waterway at the 2025 Venice Biennale | image © designboom
A Platform for Aquatic Transit in venice
Porsche and Norman Foster approach the gateway as a dynamic object in Venice. Its sinuous aluminum frame is clad in a kinetic surface that echoes the aerodynamics of the Porsche 917, layered with the visual language of the brand’s iconic Kubus design. For Foster, the collaboration offered a compelling opportunity to explore what he calls ‘the inspirational aspect of the automobile, in terms of architects past, and if I include myself, present.’
The installation is framed as a living node within a future network of zero-emission mobility. Schiller water bikes and Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air electric boats — which incorporate modified Porsche Macan motors — operate from the site throughout the Biennale’s opening week. More than a symbol, the gateway is a functioning threshold designed to engage directly with evolving modes of land and water transport.
transport infrastructure is reimagined through architecture and automotive design | image © Pablo Gomez Ogando
Porsche Brings Forward-Looking Design to the biennale
Porsche design chief Michael Mauer calls the gateway an exploration of brand identity in flux. ‘As a team, we constantly confront the question of how we can shape the future of our brand strategically, authentically,’ he says. Working with Norman Foster offered the team a chance to test these ideas beyond automotive form, in an architectural environment that rewards experimentation.
The diverse team developed the gateway with sustainability as a first principle. ‘This project pushed us to rethink our design philosophy to fully integrate circular economy principles,’ Foster explains. Materials were sourced locally to reflect Venice’s context and reduce carbon impact, while modular fabrication techniques hint at a scalable model for other cities facing similar challenges.
Foster emphasizes that the gateway is not fixed. ‘It is designed to migrate and evolve,’ he says, describing the structure as a prototype for future transport nodes adaptable to urban environments worldwide. Its inclusive design ensures accessibility for people of all ages and abilities, which adds a human dimension to its technological core.
Gateway draws from Venice’s historic bridges and Porsche’s lightweight engineering | image © Pablo Gomez Ogando
Porsche and Norman Foster frame this installation as the beginning of an ongoing dialogue. Sketches outlining visions for personal mobility — jointly developed by Porsche Style and the Norman Foster Foundation — are displayed alongside the structure, offering glimpses of ideas in formation. ‘The dream is not static,’ Foster adds. ‘It must be scalable, useful, and poetic.’
Norman Foster tells designboom: ‘I think the idea that you can roll buildings, off of production lines, like the automobile, has fascinated me. I think architects, ever since the Industrial Revolution, had an extraordinary achievement along the way. But nobody has so far realized it.
‘Buildings are still essentially site-based, although so many of the components, like almost everything else in a globalized world, are shipped in and assembled on-site. But nonetheless, it’s still very much kind of one-off, craft orientated.’
the project is a pedestrian hub and docking point for electric boats and water bikes | image © Pablo Gomez Ogando
