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Belgian artist Carsten Höller’s giant, spiraling silver slides have made their way to Arte Abierto Polanco in Mexico City as part of a permanent installation.
The large-scale installation, titled Mexico City Slides (2026), features four spiral slides integrated into Antara, an upscale open-air shopping mall that houses retail, dining, entertainment, offices and public space. Höller’s installation was commissioned by Arte Abierto and Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos and can be seen from Antara’s gardens, plazas and pedestrian promenade.
The Mexico City Slides installation ranges from 39 to 125 feet in height and 102 to 295 feet in length. All four spiral slides are open to the public and allow four people to ride simultaneously from various entrances such as the family-style restaurants, the Google offices, the Rosewood Hotel, and the Arte Abierto Art Space. All four slides end at the same exit. The artist said he wanted the installation to be an “equalizer” and a “voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind” for participants and viewers. In 2015, Höller told The Guardian that it’s “impossible to travel down a slide without smiling.”
Höller’s installation is part of a work-in-progress franchise that he started in 1998. Different variations of the slides have appeared across the world, from Test Site (2006) at Tate Modern in London, Victoria Slide (2011) at the New Museum in New York, Vitra Slide Tower (2014) at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Florence Experiment Slides (2018) at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and DAC Slide (2020) at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen.