Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross will be home to a Festival Commission by Martino Gamper. This one-off site specific installation is a playful temporary addition to the King’s Cross architecture, a false facade with traditional cladding from the Italian Alps.

Inspired by the concept of a Potemkin village - a construction built to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built to impress Empress Catherine II by her lover Grigory Potemkin during her journey to Crimea in 1787.

Gamper’s concept is designed as a gateway to Coal Drop’s Yard, with an archway creating a new entrance for visitors to walk through. The temporary structure will have a low environmental impact, with all materials as waste products, recycled or later repurposed.