Slide Your Way Around The London Olympic Park

Did you watch the London Olympics 2012? Even if you didn't you may remember Arnish Kapoor's ArcelorMittal Orbit piece of art that still stands tall and proud within the former Olympic Park, and how it was quite a controversially expensive design at the time. As fanciful as the original ArcelorMittal Orbit - a piece of art that is confusing yet intriguing, empowering yet tangible - its latest addition hopes to add a new life into the structure. With the very expensive artistic legacy living long after the Olympics' final ceremony, we are sure you'd agree that from the gallery above, you can get the impression that this is as equal a unique experience as you'll ever find.

With the first pieces of stainless steel slide being erected as this article is published, the slide's designer Carsten Holler speaks about his new intervention, explaining that "...I like to use the term grafting that you use in horticulture - you put one thing on top of another and it starts to grow and function together without becoming totally mixed up." Holler continues, explaining that the slide is like two spirals that come together, giving its' patrons a sense of feeling that is "...somewhere between delight and madness."

Curious about its design, the slide is surprisingly slim, elegant and lightweight, and is just 60cm in diameter with 3mm thick walls. With huge similarities in it's appearance to Roald Dahl's beanstalk fairytale, the slide will give its patrons a 40 seconds long experience that will see them travel down the 178m long chute at an estimated speed of 15mph.

Holler has previously worked with Kapoor, and this weirdly wonderful red scribble that towers over East London will soon be home to what is hoped to be the world's longest, tallest, and most twisted slide. Within original public suggestions to turn the ArcelorMittal Orbit into a viewing platform, the intention behind the slide is that this will be a permanent fixture at London's Olympic Park, for this summer and many more to come.

Fancy a go? SATORI & SCOUT are already in the queue! Tickets for the attraction are available in London and online at ArcelorMittalOrbit.com.

Photography credit : ArcelorMittalOrbit.com