Gateway is an installation designed by François Dumas and commissioned by Lisa White as a teaser for the 11th edition of the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne. Dumas was first introduced to the location thought for the installation : a jetty in front of Oxo tower, central point of the Design Festival located on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The long and narrow path inspired to design a gateway that would enhance the experience of walking on it together with others. Metallic structures came to be anchored on each side of the jetty to draw arches upon which are fixated ribbons, creating a dynamic drawing in the form of rays of colours arranged in a graphic pattern. Passengers were invited to a chromatic experience as if they were crossing a rainbow. The creation called for 1,500 metres of ribbons and the structure required the help of engineers to find a fixation system to clamp the installation to the structure of the pier without damaging it. Presented first on the South Bank of London and later in Paris in front of the Louvres Museum, the installation defined the first ideas that would later be used for the scenography of the biennale.
London
Paris
