On the 4th May this giant 95m (300ft) water slide conceived by UK artist Luke Jerram — illustrated a few week ago here on urdesign — was installed just for one day on Park Street in Bristol, United Kingdom. Nearly 100,000 people signed up in just five days to secure a ‘ticket to slide’. But only 360 lucky people have gained a descent 90 meters down the street on inflatable lilos.
Enabling people to navigate the streets of their city in a new way, the slide is a simple architectural intervention and a playful response to the urban landscape. Like many of Jerram’s projects the installation requires public participation to be activated. The person on the slide becomes the performer, while spectators either side watch on.
This massive urban slide transforms the street and asks people to take a fresh look at the potential of their city and the possibilities for transformation. Imagine if there were permanent slides right across cities.
With an incline of 6.5degrees, participants slid at an average of 18km/hr = 11.2mph. The slide was used by children and adults ranging in age from 5 to 73 years old.
