Superkilen, Welcome to Europe's Strangest Public Park. (CNN) -- It's home to a sound system from Jamaica and an elephant slide from Chernobyl.It's where you'll find an outdoor Thai boxing ring, exercise gear from Santa Monica beach, lampposts from the UAE and swing benches from Baghdad. Superkilen park, best public park in Europe, best public park in usa, best public park in the world, best park in the world, best places in europe, best places in the world, travel, travel guide, This is Superkilen, an urban park and cycling gateway that sprawls through Norrebro, a bohemian neighborhood of Copenhagen that's become one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Denmark. A far cry from the Copenhagen of the Little Mermaid and traditional waterfront buildings of Nyhavn canal, this willfully eclectic venue might be considered the world's most surreal public space. Stretching along a half-mile-long cycle route, Superkilen is a colorful exercise in community building born from a collaboration between residents and some of Europe's most experimental architects. I start my exploration of Superkilen's three distinctive zones with a slice of Americana. At the top of the zone known as The Green Park stands a 14-meter-tall pole with a giant "Donut" and a neon sign. It hails from a restaurant in Pennsylvania and looks like something conjured in a dream by a salivating Homer Simpson. When viewed from a distance, the doughnut sign and shiny logos from the car dealerships across the road create the perfect tableau for an American highway setting. Heading south into the park, I'm greeted by a large cast iron bull, a tribute to the famous Spanish Osborne sherry trademark. Next up is a basketball court that sits in a bowl-shaped concrete structure. The court is modeled on Mogadishu's Lujino Stadium, a venue once used by the militant Al-Shabaab group to launch assaults on Somalia's presidential palace, and which now serves as the training facility for the country's national basketball teams. Then there are all the smaller objects, which I initially walk straight past but which Superkilen's smartphone app guides me to via an interactive map. There are trash cans from the British seaside resort of Blackpool, drains from Switzerland, a manhole cover from Israel and seven different types of bike racks from across Europe. Superkilen, Welcome to Europe's Strangest Public Park. Superkilen park, best public park in Europe, best public park in usa, best public park in the world, best park in the world, best places in europe, best places in the world, travel, travel guide, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HzD_BUa34A

• published: 12 Nov 2014
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