Estonian architects Maarja Kask, Karli Luik and Ralf Loöke of Salto Architects have created a 170ft (51m)-long trampoline through the forest as part of the Archstoyanie arts festival in Russia. The architects describe the bouncy rubber walkway as both “a road and an installation.”

Fast Track, which opened in November 2012 in the Nikola-Lenivets forest in south-west Russia, is made of black rubber, and allows people to bounce their way through the park en route to their destination.

“People loved it, and they were a bit amazed,” said Luik, of the installation.

“We wanted to work with the park infrastructure and not to create another pavillion or object that there are plenty of already in this place. Thus, Fast Track is an integral part of park infrastructure. It gives the user a different experience of moving and of perceiving the environment.”

The rubber road is far more sensitive to its forest environment than a traditional road, argued Luik.

“Fast Track challenges the concept of infrastructure that only focuses on the technical and functional aspects and tends to be ignorant of its surroundings," he said. "This is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context.”

Although Fast Track is probably the world’s longest trampoline, it was originally intended to be almost four times longer, Luik said. "Initially we wanted to install it on a slope through quite dense forest and it was supposed to be 200m-long. In the end it didn't have a slope and was 51-m long. It was challenging to convince the [festival] organisers that it was 'arty' enough on the one hand, and that it fit the budget on the other hand.”

Kask, Loöke and Luik founded Tallinn-based Salto Architects in 2004. The practice is currently working on a range of projects including the creation of the Pärnu Environmental Education Centre in Tallinn.

Details: www.salto.ee

Curators Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin are behind an exhibition launching in the spring exploring an alternative vision for Los Angeles.

Never Built: Los Angeles takes place at Los Angeles A+D Architecture and Design Museum, and features a collection of incredible architecture projects that only ever saw the drawing board.

It includes amusement parks, subways, aerial transport, parks, masterplans and buildings by architects including Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry that could have transformed the Californian city.

Goldin and Lubell turned to Kickstarter – the crowd-funding site that sees the public donate money to make a project happen – to fund the exhibition. So far, according to Goldin, $32,000 has been raised by the public.

“We decided that in order to realise this show we needed funding from more than just corporate sponsors and philanthropists,” said Lubin.

“Crowdsourcing is an amazing way to expand that reach to the public.”

[For more about Kickstarter, see Leisure Management Q1 2012.]

The idea for the show began when The Getty Research Institute offered the A+D Museum a few models of unbuilt work from its archive. Lubin and Goldin have been working on it for around two years.

“The fascinating stories and mesmerising images surrounding these projects shed light on a reluctant city whose institutions and infrastructure have often undermined inventive, challenging urban schemes from some of the world's greatest architects, engineers and planners,” said Lubin. “Never Built sets the stage for a renewed interest in visionary projects in LA and dares the city to dream again." 

During the exhibition’s run, the entire museum space will become an “alternative vision for LA,” featuring an unusual floor map of the city as a guide.

“The biggest challenge has been realising the show's amazing ambition,” said Lubin. “We've had to retrofit the museum to handle a multitude of original materials, including new lighting, security, and fire systems. Also we've had to find and work with a designer, model makers, animators, contractors and graphic designers.

"We're installing very challenging installations, from an 11-foot-tall tower made of Lego to a monorail that moves through the space.”  

Details: www.aplusd.org

Leigh-Anne Stradeski, chief executive of the UK's national children's museum Eureka!, has helped to launch the Halifax attraction's new £2.9m health and body themed gallery.

Developed with the support of a £1.45m grant from the Wellcome Trust, the new gallery uses play, role-playing and interactive displays to help children learn about their bodies and how to look after them.

"With All About Me we wanted to create a gallery that places children at the centre of the whole experience but also plays a key role in delivering a very powerful message about being fit and healthy in a way that is true to our philosophy of ‘learning through play’," said Stradeski.

"The current epidemic of inactivity and obesity is working against our children and we want to change this. The vision is to inspire children to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing and to realise that they are in control of the choices they make about the foods they eat and the activities they engage in."

Designed by At Large, the new gallery features more than 100 interactive exhibits. These include The Senses, where visitors can peek into a giant nose complete with snot tanks, and a role play Health Centre complete with a doctor's surgery, dentist's chair and maternity surgery.

Stradeski was keen to ensure that the impact of the gallery resonated beyond visitors' trip to the museum.

"To facilitate this we’re creating a microsite with links to the gallery," she said. "We also hope that children will feel empowered to talk to families and teachers about issues that they might otherwise have felt unable to discuss, particularly around emotive subjects such as body image, diets and the differences that make them unique."

Stradeski has been CEO of Eureka! since April 2000. Prior to that, she was executive director of the London Regional Children’s Museum in London, Ontario, Canada for six years.

Details: www.eureka.org.uk

Olympic cycling gold medallist, Joanna Rowsell MBE, is continuing her role as cycling ambassador for children’s charity Action Medical Research for 2013, and has accepted a challenge to get more women cycling.

Rowsell, who received an MBE in the 2013 New Year's honours list, won Gold for Team GB in the Women’s Team Pursuit in last summer’s Olympics. For 2013 Joanna will be riding for the new Wiggle Honda Women’s Pro Cycling Team to compete on the road in both the UK and Europe.

Action Medical Research runs a programme of fundraising cycling events, including three Action DIVA women only rides – launched by Davina McCall in 2011.

“I’m delighted to be an ambassador for children’s charity Action Medical Research again this year,” said Rowsell. “After the huge success of the London Olympics I hope many people have been inspired to get on their bikes. Riding for Action Medical Research is a great way to raise money as well as get fit and the charity has a wide variety of different events, including some women’s only events, which suit both beginners and experienced cyclists.

“Cycling is a great way to get fit and isn’t a high impact sport, therefore injuries are less common than in other sports such as running. It can be very sociable, with many cyclists meeting up for group rides at weekends and is also a great way to get about.

“I think the work Action Medical Research does is awesome and it's even better if, while raising money for charity, people can get fit and enjoy cycling at the same time. I love cycling and AMR has a wide programme of events to suit everyone, whether you are a beginner and want to get started in shorter, fun events – like the 25km routes on the Action DIVA women only rides – or a more experienced cyclist looking to tackle the longer events such as London to Paris.”

Action Medical Research has been funding medical breakthroughs since it began in 1952. The charity is currently supporting work around Downs Syndrome, epilepsy, sickle cell disease, and diabetes, as well as some rare and distressing conditions that severely affect children.

Details: www.action.org.uk/cycling www.joannarowsell.com

Andy Edge, last year appointed by Odeon Cinemas to the new role of commercial director, has launched a new customer insight strategy as part of a drive to improve the guest experience at Odeon.

Edge, who was recruited from the Tussauds Group last May, implemented the ‘My Odeon’ programme at the end of last year. The programme was developed in partnership with customer experience management experts Empathica, and is now being rolled out across Odeon’s 123 cinemas in the UK and Ireland.

“At Odeon, our customers are as fanatical about film as we are,” said Edge. “We want to give every guest a premier service in an inspiring environment. Therefore, feedback on what they really think and feel about their in-cinema experience is at the heart of taking our business forward. Our previous mystery shopping programme didn’t give us the breadth and frequency of data that we needed.

"‘My Odeon’ enables guests to provide honest feedback via a short online survey, which can also be accessed via mobile devices such as smart phones. The survey is promoted in cinemas through QR codes on posters and on cards handed out by staff. Customers who complete the survey are entered into a monthly prize draw to win £1,000."
Customer feedback is sent to cinema managers in near real time, with data collated into easy to understand, actionable reports, enabling the business to implement operational changes with cinema employees that have an immediate impact on customer satisfaction levels.

“Because the feedback is so detailed, we can implement changes as a result of the data we get,” said Edge. “We measure everything from the temperature of the auditorium to queue lengths and the cleanliness of the toilets.” As a result of feedback about queue lengths at certain sites, Odeon has adjusted the rostering to ensure a faster service for customers, and it has also changed car parking signage in response to comments that it was confusing in some sites.

“We‘re keen to get much more feedback, because the more we can collect, the smarter we’ll be,” said Edge. “We want to personalise the service for our customers; find out what they like and what they watch so we can interact with them with unique footage and games before they come to the cinema and once they get home. We want to broaden their experience so that it’s about more than just the two hours in the cinema.

“It’s about focusing on the customer, getting the guest journey right and being pretty ruthless about making changes if we need to, because the power of the data is there."

Details: www.odeon.co.uk