Fast Track is a 51m long trampoline path.
Trampoline road
The idea behind Salto’s installation is to remind us that getting from A to B doesn’t have to be an entirely functional process. Karli Luik who, along with Ralf Lõoke and Maarja Kask, designed Fast Track, says, “What we are saying is that moving itself is an experience and those who design roads should bear this in mind.”
It is somewhere in between an attraction and an installation
While it is unlikely the future will see towns and cities full of trampoline pavements for commuters to bounce to work along, it is a reminder to urban planners that not everything has to be solely utilitarian.
People of all ages enjoyed Fast Track.
In many ways Fast Track raises similar questions to those of the Psychogeography movement of the 1950s, which was concerned with the emotional relationship city dwellers had with the urban landscape around them. Something that so many of us tend to forget or ignore as we march through our busy, ‘important’ lives.
Archstoyanie festival
While those who attended the Archstoyanie festival used the trampoline as a way to travel from one destination to another, at its heart it was simply an enjoyable, liberating thing to do.
Luik says, “It is somewhere in between being an attraction and an installation. I think most of the people enjoyed it very much, as you can see in the pictures. Even older people and those who weren’t in very good shape were using it, because it is a lot of fun.”
Fast Track was designed for the Archstoyanie festival in Russia.
The festival itself, which is set in the village of Nikola-Lenivets was set up by resident artist Nikolay Polissky, who, since 2000, has been installing landscape sculpture around the area. Luik says, “Nikolay Polissky was starting to build some very big installations and it grew from there. The organizers invite people outside of Russia like us every year and it’s very special because around 5,000 people attend the festival.”
Other projects
Though Salto has done similar projects such as the 63m long gas pipe they installed in Venice for the 2008 Biennale – in response to the environmental impact of a proposed initiative to build a gas pipe from Russia to Germany– their bread and butter work is architecture.
They have just completed the Baltic Media and Film School in Tallinn and are currently constructing a new building for G4S security.
For those keen to visit Fast Track, it is set to remain as a permanent installation at Nikola-Lenivets. For more information on the project and other work by the design team go to Salto.
