Tom Scott

The Human-Powered, Giant Theme Park Playground: Ai Pioppi (2015x15)

: 06, 2015

In the foothills of the Dolomites, an hour or so north of Venice, lies Ai Pioppi, a restaurant that's home to an astonishing, giant, human-powered, kinetic-art theme park playground. It was designed and made by a man called Bruno over forty years, and it's free for folks who eat at the restaurant. I'll be honest: I sort of thought it was a myth. The idea of unattended, huge kinetic ride-on sculptures was surely false? There was some evidence: a very artfully-shot documentary, and some shaky tourist footage, but I couldn't quite believe that something this potentially dangerous could still exist. So on Easter weekend, when it was quiet, Paul (@cr3) and I took a road trip to try it. And it's real. It's very, very real. Watch as we try and take a somersault on the Bicycle of Death. And if you don't take the right amount of caution, it can hurt you -- although my eventual injury didn't come through any rides, but just by tripping over by running!