Four metallic spiral slides now wind through Antara, a mixed-use development in Mexico City‘s Polanco neighbourhood. Riders set off from a hotel, offices, restaurants and an art space, then land side by side. The work is mexico city slides antara (2026) by Belgian artist Carsten Höller.
mexico city slides antara: four slides at different scales
In this installation, the slides range from 12 to 38 metres in height and 31 to 90 metres in length. Each is built for one rider, and four people can descend at the same time. All four end at a shared landing area in the courtyard.
Designboom reports that the slide installation is free to the public and scheduled to open in December 2026. Visitors who prefer not to ride can watch riders pass through the tubes from the ground.
Visitors who want a more hands-on encounter with public sculpture might also enjoy Interactive XPOME skatepark sculpture from Bulgarian graffiti, which invites people to climb and play on the work.
Why Höller builds slides
Höller has made slides since 1998. He calls them “a sculpture with people inside,” and he treats each ride as a controlled fall. Designboom notes that he borrows the phrase “voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind” from the sociologist Roger Caillois.
Höller says the slides bring strangers into one physical moment. “People sliding from a hotel, from offices, from restaurants and from an art centre are brought together in the air and land next to each other,” he said, as quoted by Dezeen. He describes the result as a mix of “joy and fear.”
The slides also aim to level social distinctions. Höller calls the installation an “equalizer,” because a hotel guest and an office worker end up in the same place at the bottom of the ride, according to ArtNews.
A series that began in 1998
This installation continues a body of carsten höller slides that has appeared in museums and public buildings across the world. Test Site (2006) stood at Tate Modern in London. Victoria Slide (2011) appeared at the New Museum in New York, and Vitra Slide Tower (2014) rose on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein.
More recent versions include Florence Experiment Slides (2018) at Palazzo Strozzi and DAC Slide (2020) at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen. Stockholm Slides (2025) is a permanent feature on the façade of Moderna Museet, according to Designboom.
The development around the slides
Antara opened in 2006 as Mexico City’s first open-air retail complex. SOMA developed it on a former industrial site in Colonia Granada. The latest expansion adds shops, restaurants, offices and a 2,500-square-metre public garden.
For another spiral that draws crowds into public space, see Plastique Fantastique’s golden spiral on the High Line, a mirrored form that reflects the city around it.
The architecture studio Sordo Madaleno, founded in 1937 and now working between Mexico City and London, designed the expanded development. Arte Abierto, the non-profit contemporary art foundation SOMA established in 2019, commissioned the slides and runs the cultural programme. Google’s offices are part of the complex, and Dezeen reports that a 43-storey tower for a Rosewood hotel is also planned for the site.
This route turns a playground object into a route through a commercial district. For a few seconds, a rider who arrived for lunch, a meeting or a hotel stay shares the same descent as everyone else.
Via dezeen.com
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the spiral slides at Antara in Mexico City?
The four spiral slides at Antara were created by Belgian artist Carsten Höller. The work is titled mexico city slides antara (2026).
How tall and long are the Antara spiral slides?
The slides at Antara range from 12 to 38 metres in height and 31 to 90 metres in length. Each slide is built for one rider, and four people can descend at the same time.
Is the Antara slide installation free, and when does it open?
According to Designboom, the slide installation is free to the public. It is scheduled to open in December 2026.
Why does Carsten Höller want riders to land side by side?
Höller says the slides bring strangers together in one physical moment, since riders from a hotel, offices, restaurants and an art centre meet in the air and land next to each other. He calls the installation an “equalizer” because a hotel guest and an office worker end up in the same place at the bottom.
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