Mexico City Slides 2026: Carsten Höller's Giant Slides

A striking intersection of contemporary art and modern architecture is taking shape within a mixed-use urban development in Mexico City. Belgian artist Carsten Höller has partnered with the nonprofit art organization Arte Abierto, developer SOMA, and architecture practice Sordo Madaleno to create a monumental permanent installation titled Mexico City Slides, winding through the Antara expansion in Colonia Granada.

Ranging from 12 to 38 meters in height and 31 to 90 meters in length, the four stainless steel structures descend from various points across the complex, ultimately converging at a shared landing area. Designed to accommodate one person per slide, the system allows four visitors to experience the descent simultaneously and arrive side by side. The public installation will be accessible free of charge upon its scheduled opening in December 2026.

Visitors traveling downward from restaurants, workplaces, and hospitality spaces share the exact same physical journey, temporarily casting aside social and functional hierarchies. Höller views this encounter as a powerful equalizing gesture. Regardless of where individuals begin their descent, they emerge right next to each other at the bottom, transforming routine urban transit into an unexpected communal spectacle.

Höller has utilized slides as a primary artistic medium since 1998, exploring how objects traditionally found on playgrounds can be integrated into complex architectural environments. He famously describes these installations as 'a sculpture with people inside.' His extensive series of sliding projects includes Test Site at Tate Modern in London in 2006, Victoria Slide at the New Museum in New York in 2011, and Stockholm Slides as a permanent feature at Moderna Museet in 2025.

"A voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind"

Carsten Höller (borrowing from sociologist Roger Caillois)

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

The Mexico City Slides installation coincides with the twentieth anniversary of Antara, which first opened in 2006 as Mexico City's pioneering open-air retail complex on a former industrial site. Developed by SOMA and designed by Sordo Madaleno, the expanded district now features pedestrian pathways, stepped terraces, a 2,500-square-meter public garden, and cultural programming led by Arte Abierto. The project is set to welcome the public in December 2026.