Christo has been a idol of mine since I was young. He was wrapping buildings around the world in his trademark colour when I was wrapping my sandwiches in cling-wrap for school.

One event I decided to emulate him by wrapping the inside of the Museum of Contemporary Art in bubble wrap. A few hours before the launch to the world’s media the light hadn’t faded enough and it looked awful, my client was asking how quickly it could change to black drapes. I hurried off, but instead of ordering the drapes, as requested, I ordered more lights to be installed.

Worse than watching a slow innings in cricket I waited for the sun to move off the building, it did so ten minutes before the opening. Darkness arrived and it looked stunning, a piece of art in a building of art. People were fascinated and the head designer of Australasian firm asked me where I got such fine material as he wanted to import it. I took him over and popped one of the bubbles (as kids loved to do)…he could not comprehend and scurried off swearing to me in French to never talk of it again. The event was a huge success, it may not have been Christo worthy but it was Christo inspired and I was wrapped (sorry, couldn’t resist).

So during our trip the chance to see his installation on Lake Iseo in Milan couldn’t be missed. He spent millions of his own dollars turning his wife’s dream into reality and years bringing it to life. We spent twenty two hours getting there and back for two hours of delight.

It was one of the pivotal moments of my life. Here was a piece that got the detail right on monumental scale, it brought out a sense of unmitigated joy to all who visited, understood not only the surroundings but how the environment would react over each day and was a tribute to his partner. Walking, running, jumping, photographing this Milan miracle was like breathing pure oxygen…it brought a natural freeness and lightheadedness.

The Floating Piers was the highlight of our trip. Thank you Christo for being the artist I spotted thirty odd years ago who continues to amaze me, for showing me the scale doesn’t mean compromise and most importantly for throwing millions of your own money into a lake for me to walk on!