Wiegand, a family-owned manufacturer of toboggan runs, rail-mounted toboggans and stainless steel dry slides, has created two stainless steel slides for the Arts Resource Center, within the LUMA cultural complex in Arles, France.
The city in Provence is renowned for its connection with the arts, having hosted Vincent van Gogh for a time, who was famously inspired by the area. It also used to be the provincial capital of the Roman Empire. Now, it has been home to the LUMA cultural complex since 2013, which gives artists a space to create new works in collaboration with scientists, inventors and the public.
Stainless steel slides complete the look
The site was first acquired in 2010 by Maja Hoffmann, art collector and co-heiress of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La-Roche. Hoffman has since invested 150 million euros to expand the cultural centre, including on the 56-metre-high Arts Resource Center, designed by Frank Gehry.
The building is covered with over 11,000 aluminium panels to create the impression of a shiny rock and to reflect light both day and night. Each plate is unique, bearing a scan code with assembly instructions to make sure the tower was constructed to plan.
Inside the tower, two 90-foot-long Wiegand stainless steel slides complete the look, starting from a height of 36 feet. The company worked with artist Carsten Höller on the double installation, which is equipped with a transparent polycarbonate cover and sensor-controlled traffic lights. Also, special starts and run-outs ensure that people with disabilities can use the slides safely.
Earlier this year, Wiegand also announced that it had provided its stainless steel slides for two new unique clients: Google and Miral. The Google headquarters in Zurich and the Abu Dhabi headquarters of Miral are both now home to a design slide made in Germany by the company.