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"At first sight, Carsten H\u00F6ller\u2019s sky-high Slide Tower, unveiled yesterday, June 18, on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany (don\u2019t miss Lee F. Mindel\u2019s photo tour of the site\u2019s show-stopping architecture), seems the stuff of childhood dreams incarnate\u2014and, for the most part, it\u2019s exactly that. But, as annual viewings of A Christmas Story confirm, there\u2019s also something vaguely nightmarish about the act of sliding, so aptly portrayed in Ralphie\u2019s dizzying descent in a department store. The Brussels-born H\u00F6ller has an acute grasp of this murky, sliding-induced state, once describing it to a Tate Modern curator as \u201Ca unique condition somewhere between delight and madness.\u201D If this new installation is any indication, he believes that\u2019s a feeling worth provoking.\n\nThe 100-foot-high opus is H\u00F6ller\u2019s first freestanding chute, though the artist has been exploring slides since the late 1990s (and memorably installed one in New York\u2019s New Museum in 2011). Crowned with a clock and punctuated by an enclosed curlicue of steel, this sculptural design is about more than mind games, says H\u00F6ller: It\u2019s also an energy-efficient, cost-effective form of transportation. Chances are, though, you won\u2019t be thinking about that the next time you\u2019re in Weil am Rhein, zipping down a slide and\u2014with terror and elation\u2014surrendering to the thrill."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/carsten-holler-slide-tower-vitra>