Impressive Vitra slide tower - children's attraction
- Written by Portal Editor
The further tour after visiting the chair museum then brought us to the Vitra slide tower, also known as the Vitra Slide Tower, a 30.74 meter high observation and slide tower and thus another work of art experience in Weil am Rhein, which magically attracts children in particular.
Despite a few attempts to get hold of one of the coveted slide mats ourselves, we were unsuccessful, which came in handy for us, because with a slide speed of between 3 and 4 meters per second, the slide lasts only 10 to 12 seconds, but who knows what along the way everything still happened. But seriously, the tubular slide segments have a diameter of 80 centimeters and thus ensure a safe slide. While the lower part of the slide tubes is made of steel, the upper part of the tube is made of transparent Plexiglas to elevate the riders with a view of the surroundings.
Slide tower on the Vitra Campus site
The Vitra Slide Tower is located on the north-western edge of the Vitra Campus, south of the visitor car park and north of the Vitra production hall built by Álvaro Siza Vieira in 1994. The slide tower is accessible via the 500-meter-long panoramic path redesigned by Álvaro Siza and stands between the Vitra House and the former fire station designed by Zaha Hadid. The tower is thus part of a broader redesign of the Vitra campus and is to receive a new entrance building in the north-west. The background to this planning is the development of the city via tram line 8 from December 2014. The tubular steel tower was designed by the German artist Carsten Höller and was officially opened on June 18, 2014. The slide tower has been available to the public since June 19, 2014.
The Vitra slide tower is formed by three tubular steel supports that converge at an angle and at the intersection of which is a rotatable clock with a diameter of six meters. The supports measure 40 centimeters in outside diameter; the outermost support forms an angle of 59.5 degrees with the horizontal.
The observation tower can be accessed via a staircase between the diagonal supports. The staircase is interrupted by eight intermediate platforms and ends at the viewing platform at a height of 17 meters. The height of the banister measures 1.3 meters, as does the parapet height of the viewing platform.
Observation deck and clock
The partially covered viewing platform in the form of an inverted truncated cone is 2.9 meters high and has an outside diameter of 7.7 metres. It houses the starting point of a 38 meter long, traffic light regulated, conical spiral tube slide with a six meter long run-out section. Rubber mats were used to line the standing and surrounding area of the slide tower.
The numberless clock at the top rotates on its own axis and lights up at night together with the viewing platform. The lettering of the Vitra company is attached to the hour hand, which together with the dot on the minute hand forms the company's logo for a moment every 65 minutes. According to the company, the watch addresses the time, but is not used for practical reading.
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