PolyLester

Opening NDSM Giants
🗓️April 23, 17:30–19:30

In just two weeks, we’ll gather at NDSM Werf - at the 3x3 basketball court - to celebrate the unveiling of a new public artwork by PolyLester.

Join us for the opening and celebrate this new addition to the city with us!

PolyLester is dit jaar goed op weg.

Op 18 april om 14:00 opent Waterlanders in Dijk en Waard. Een publiek kunstwerk in en rond de nieuwe onderdoorgang bij Heerhugowaard, dat de twee kernen van de gemeente straks fysiek verbindt.

De opdracht was om water voelbaar te maken, zonder dat water zelf aanwezig is. Het thema klopt: de regio is historisch gevormd door water, en de toekomst vraagt om een nieuwe verhouding tot datzelfde water.

Ontwerpteam:
Gabriel Lester
Victor Sardenberg

Technische ontwikkeling:



Opdrachtgever:
Met dank aan:

📍 Heerhugowaard, Dijk en Waard 🗓 Opening: 18 april, 14:00

ENG

PolyLester is really in full swing this year.
On April 18 at 14:00 Waterlanders opens in Dijk en Waard. A public work of art in and around the new underpass at Heerhugowaard, which will soon physically connect the two cores of the municipality.
The assignment was to make water palpable, without water itself being present. The theme is right: the region is historically shaped by water, and the future calls for a new relationship to that same water.

Design team:
Gabriel Lester
Victor Sardenberg

Technical development:



Client:
Thanks to:

📍 Heerhugowaard, Dijk and Waard 🗓 Opening: April 18, 14:00

Work in progress!
Concrete NDSM giants are cooking and will be installaed soon at NDSM basketball field.

On view from April 24
Opening event: April 23rd, 16:00-21:00

Waterlanders — in the making

On site in Dijk en Waard, where the passage tunnel walls are gradually being clad with ceramic tiles featuring water-drop patterns.

Designed by and technically developed together with - the project is now taking shape.

Commissioned by: Dijk en WAARD

Peel Plaza (2022)

Commissioned by .amsterdam , Peel Plaza transforms a section of Weesperplein in Amsterdam into a sculptural urban terrace.

Constructed from wood, corten steel, and integrated LED lighting, the design features a wooden deck whose segments appear to have been “peeled off.” These Peels form benches, tables, and playful spatial gestures, while incorporating the existing trees — creating an oasis-like environment in the city. Peel Plaza continues Gabriel Lester’s series of Peels, previously realized in Amsterdamse Bos, Colombia, and Sweden.

📍 Weesperplein, Amsterdam (NL)
Commissioned by: .amsterdam
Engineering & construction:
📸:

What a great evening Friday the 13th. Studio warming at PolyLester. Still the fire simmering in out hearts snd mind. Thank you all for joining and such good spirits and energy. Now let’s move forward to 2026 when we’ll have the survey of 25 years of art in public space opening at Arcam in Amsterdam in May. That’s our next event for sure. See you all there!

Bouncer (2014)

A sequence of doors becomes a physical rabbit hole — a passage that pulls you in, step by step, limiting the possibility of exit until you reach the very end.
Moving through Bouncer feels like clicking through windows, scrolling through pages, or advancing frame by frame in a stop-motion film. A small dot on the first door slowly expands into full colour, marking a rhythmic progression through space, time, and sound — almost like a drumroll you walk through.

—
Artist / Design: Gabriel Lester

Beemster Arch (2019)

Commissioned by .nl for the new De Nieuwe Tuinderij West neighbourhood in Middenbeemster, this bridge and artwork was designed by Gabriel Lester (PolyLester Studio) in collaboration with Arnaud Hendrickx.

Responding to the unique geometry and heritage of the UNESCO-listed Beemster Polder, the design forms a subtle landmark that connects two residential areas while echoing the materiality of the surrounding architecture.

Built from brick, concrete, and steel, the arch rises above the water. At its peak stands a small brick house with a bench and light in the ridge, creating a place to pause, meet, and observe the neighbourhood.

📍 Middenbeemster (NL)
Commissioned by: 
Design collaboration: Arnaud Hendrickx
Illustration: 
📸Beemster Arch (2019)

Commissioned by .nl for the new De Nieuwe Tuinderij West neighbourhood in Middenbeemster, this bridge and artwork was designed by Gabriel Lester (PolyLester Studio) in collaboration with Arnaud Hendrickx.

Responding to the unique geometry and heritage of the UNESCO-listed Beemster Polder, the design forms a subtle landmark that connects two residential areas while echoing the materiality of the surrounding architecture.

Built from brick, concrete, and steel, the arch rises above the water. At its peak stands a small brick house with a bench and light in the ridge, creating a place to pause, meet, and observe the neighbourhood.

📍 Middenbeemster (NL)
Commissioned by: .nl
🖍️Design collaboration: Arnaud Hendrickx
🖌️Illustration:
📸:

Now on view — Mysterious Universe

At in Venlo, Eugène Brands’ fascination with the cosmos takes center stage in Mysterious Universe exhibition.

PolyLester Studio was invited to design the scenography, shaping the exhibition into an immersive spatial experience that connects two generations of artists.

Visitors enter a dark and spacious environment — calm, organized, and focused — where Brands’ works appear like points of orientation in a silent night sky. From there, Gabriel Lester’s Big Bag creates a transitional passage, a threshold between worlds.

Emerging into the light space, the rhythm breaks open: paintings float freely, as if caught in expansion — a playful echo of cosmic origins and Brand’s own imaginative universe.

On view until January 4, 2026 — step inside and explore.

—
Scenography design team:
Gabriel Lester
Darya Akhrameika
Miruna-Maria Stanciu
Jochem van den Wijngaard
Marco Giacomelli

Exhibition production:
Heines Messebau
Schouren Metaal BV
Studio KunstWerk
Team Rayer Schilderwerken
Weemen

Limbo — Process

Some glimpses from the process behind our finalist project Limbo: scale model and conceptual diagrams showing how the design takes shape.
The interplay of hovering elements and disrupted grids.

Commissioned by: Technical University of Rosenheim
Project team:
Gabriel Lester
Darya Akhrameika
Miruna-Maria Stanciu
Jochem van den Wijngaard
Engineering: