Slide To The Train
By JEROEN BEEKMANS | Published: WEDNESDAY JULY 13, 2011
http://popupcity.net/2011/07/slide-to-the-train/
It’s officially called a ‘transfer accelerator’ by Dutch railway maintenance company ProRail, but everyone else would say it’s a slide. An awesome slide. Installed next to a stairway at the newly renovated railway station Overvecht in the city of Utrecht, the slide offers travellers the opportunity to quickly reach the railway tracks when they’re in a hurry. But above all, the slide is a great instrument to make the city more playful. The ‘transfer accelerator’ was designed by Utrecht-based firm HIK Ontwerpers, and installed as the final piece of the renovation of the Overvecht railway station. Check out the (Dutch) video below to see more of this great urban intervention:
The designers explain that their slide is meant to be a nice gesture to the travellers. They brilliantly foresaw that such a playful urban intervention can generate large-scale positive spin-off for a disadvantaged neighborhood like Overvecht, and that’s exactly what happened. Click here for a photo series of the project, and click here for a video that shows you how it feels to slide to the train.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/25/oukoe-uk-taiwan-planking-idUKTRE74O1VH20110525
(Reuters) - Lying face flat on the ground may not be the world's most glamorous photo pose but two Taiwanese "planking" women have made a name for themselves on the Internet -- and hope to use the craze to spread positive social messages.
Eschewing the dangerous behaviour that killed one man in Australia and left another seriously injured, Karren and Jinyu practice a safer version of the fast-growing global fad that involves lying face down stiff in often bizarre places for a photo op.
In fact, they use it to promote causes, such as planking with stray dogs to draw attention to the plight of the animals, or planking in famous tourist spots to promote travel.
"It's not really that difficult to plank and I really don't mind getting dirty," said the petite Karren, who wore a Japanese manga-inspired outfit and a red backpack, in an interview, her partner nodding beside her.
Calling themselves the Pujie Girls which literally translates to "falling on the street" in Mandarin, the name is also a pun on the Cantonese curse "Puk Gai" which means "may you drop dead."