The world’s longest helter skelter will open in London
Designed by artist Carsten Holler – who attached a pair of spiralling slides to the Hayward Gallery last year – this new addition to Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower will turn the east London landmark into the world’s longest helter skelter. The intertwining slides start at a height of 74 m and will take 40 seconds to go down, reaching a top speed of 15 mph. Tickets are already on sale for the attraction, which officially opens on 24 June.
Icebergs are taking over the National Building Museum’s Grand Hall in DC
Washington is usually baking hot by 2 July, but the city’s National Building Museum is keeping things ice cold… Its summer installation by James Corner Field Operations explores the frosty world of iceberg fields. Using scaffolding and polycarbonate paneling, the practice will create an immersive installation where visitors can ascend a viewing area inside the tallest berg, and hang out in caves and grottos on the seafloor.
LA’s ‘Skyslide’ will open 1,000 ft above ground
Taking slides to the extreme, this glass-bottomed contraption will open 1,000 ft in the air on 25 June, attached to the US Bank Tower in LA. The tower is the West Coast’s tallest building and is currently undergoing a $50 million makeover by design firm Gensler. Part of the OUE Skyspace – California’s tallest open-air observation deck – Skyslide will allow thrill-seekers to glide from the 70th to the 69th floor while taking in unrivalled views of the LA area.
Brighton’s vertical pier takes to the sky
Two years in the making, the British Airways i360 vertical cable car is nearly ready for passengers in Brighton. The structure – which reaches 530 ft into the air, the ride 450 ft – was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the creators of the London Eye, and offers riders 360 degree panoramic views of the city and surrounding area. The exact launch date is still TBA but is expected soon…
The London Design Festival is going crazy with golf
Sir Paul Smith, best known for his clothing line, is now venturing into the world of crazy golf. The fashion design has launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring a 9-hole course to Trafalgar Square for the London Design Festival in September. Smith is curating the playable set piece and has enlisted the likes of Tom Dixon and the late Zaha Hadid’s architecture studio to devise hole designs for the project. The Kickstarter campaign still has a fair way to go, so time will tell whether Smith’s vision becomes a reality.
The world’s longest glass-bottom bridge set to open in China
China’s Zhangjiajie National Forest Park – a world heritage site – is already home to the world’s tallest outdoor lift and it will soon welcome the world’s highest and longest glass-bottom bridge. Designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, the record-breaking structure is 430 metres long and 300 metres high, connecting two cliffs in the Hunan province park. The exact opening date is unclear for this one, although CNN reports it could be ready as early as this month.
