Tickets are now on sale for rides on Carsten Höller and Anish Kapoor’s Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit in London, which will open on 24th June.
The slide has been designed by Belgian-German artist Carsten Höller at the invitation of Anish Kapoor, creator of the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a 114.5-metre tall sculpture and observation tower in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
A ride on the slide
Measuring 178-metres and spiralling 76-metres into the air, the slide will reportedly be the world’s tallest and longest tunnel slide.
Visitors, sitting on a mat, will be able to travel down what’s been described as the UK’s tallest public piece of artwork, through light and dark sections with glimpses of London’s skyscape outside.
The slide will twist and turn 12 times, including a tight corkscrew section named the ‘bettfeder’ – after the German word for ‘bedspring.’
Those taking a ride on the slide will end with a 50-metre straight run to the ground. The experience will last 40 seconds, and riders are expected to hit speeds of up to 15 miles per hour.
The slide is made up of 30 sections, each measuring between five and nine metres long.
The creation is made from 800-milimetre diameter, three millimetre thick stainless steel tubes. Riders will be able to see out through polycarbonate 'windows' in the light parts of the slide.
To ride the slide, groups must buy a £5 slide ticket in addition to a ticket to the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal said: “I am sure that the addition of the slide will attract new and repeat visitors, cementing the ArcelorMittal Orbit’s role as not just a great work of art and a great experience, but also as a symbol for the regeneration of East London.”
You can see footage of the construction of the slide in the video below:
For further information visit www.arcelormittalorbit.com.
