Carsten Höller is building a new slide in London. 178 meters in 40 seconds will make it the highest slide in the world. More interestingly, you will be weaving through, around, and down a sculpture by Anish Kapoor. In 2012, Anish Kapoor designed the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the Olympic games. There are some wonderful drawings, studio shots, and videos of the Orbit on his website. You might be more familiar with his sculpture,  Cloud Gate or The Bean, in Chicago. Kapoor invited Carsten Höller to create this new slide, which opens on June 24th (but you can book tickets online now)

Carsten Höller trained to be a scientist and has doctorate in biology, but works as an artist. And children often catch onto his artwork faster than adults. His work can be disorienting, a little like any entertainment complex.  But at the core, he is asking can you make entertainment that is thought provoking and intelligent… that leads you to somewhere unpredictable? It’s a similar question parents ask when they look for “educational toys.” But in this case, he is creating a kind of re-educational toy that is going to teach us to play all over again.

We are going to see his exhibition, “Doubt,” at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan this summer. Below is a video from the opening of the exhibition and a preview of the craziness that will be our family adventure.

Follow our upcoming trip on Instagram or Twitter. I’ll be posting longer reviews about the museums and travel arrangements following the trip or as time permits from Europe.