The Cloud is pure atmosphere, lacking substance. The contours are blurred and elusive. A completely new construction material, mist (a first attempt was made for the Universal Exhibition in Osaka in 1970), allows for the creation of a room without walls. Water from the lake is filtered through 31'400 nozzles at high-pressure and it emerges in spray form at a pressure of 80 bars minimum, along a 7 kilometers system of pipes. Mobile architecture, the Cloud is in constant state of flux. Winds, temperature changes and humidity influence its appearance, its transparency and its shape. The system's own meteorological stations constantly analyses the weather and regulate the water pressure, to ensure an uniform dispersion of the fine water droplets in every one of the 22 zones. The Tensegrity framework is made up of cables linking metal bars. This system, a double inverted pyramidal shape, allows large cantilevers. Only four pillars, anchored in the lake, support the Cloud, so that it appears to be suspended above the water. Visitors take a glass-fiber footbridge and head towards a platform, taking the stairs through the mist. Then after strolling around the Cloud, they discover at the top the Angel Bar, where they can taste mineral water from all over the world.

Arteplage
Yverdon-les-Bains

^{Photos: © Holzer Kobler Architekturen GmbH www.holzerkobler.com; © Philipp Zanatta; © Christoph Steudler; © Andreas Mosimann; © Beat Widmer; © Michael Studt; © Urs Berwert: © Martin Lüchinger}