Architecture

Sweden's winter wonderland returns with opening of 31st Icehotel

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Dreaming in a Dream, by Kestutis Musteikis and Vytautas Musteikis, is one of the arty spaces created for the 2020 Icehotel, and conjures up an icy fantasy land populated with weird and wonderful creatures
Asaf Kliger
Toybox was designed by Wouter Biegelaar and Viktor Tsarsk. It contains ice sculptures of toys and stuffed animals
Asaf Kliger
Hang Loose was designed by Edith Van De Wetering and Wilfred Stijge and is conceived as an icy art gallery
Asaf Kliger
Koex Maximus was designed by Julia Gamborg Nielsen and Lotta Lampa and is envisioned as an abstract world of contemplation
Asaf Kliger
A Journey into Letter Space was designed by John Bark and Charli Kasselback and is an abstract celebration of letters
Asaf Kliger
Paradice Lost, by Kalle Ekeroth and Christian Strömqvist, depicts an icy snack stand
Asaf Kliger
Strawberry Room was designed by Petter Stordalen, Luca Roncoroni, Edith Van de Wetering and Wilfred Stijger, and features a series of inspirational messages
Asaf Kliger
Skogen, by Anna Ohlund & John Pettersson, is a ceremony hall for wedding services, and takes the form of a frozen forest
Asaf Kliger
Oh Rapunzel! was designed by Emilie and Sara Steele and depicts an oversized Maltese dog
Asaf Kliger
You are Here was designed by Elisabeth Kristensen and Dave Ruane. "To open your mind and make space for the heart is hard work, but the rewards are worth it" say the artists
Asaf Kliger
Dreaming in a Dream, by Kestutis Musteikis and Vytautas Musteikis, is one of the arty spaces created for the 2020 Icehotel, and conjures up an icy fantasy land populated with weird and wonderful creatures
Asaf Kliger
Sauna, by Luca Roncoroni, imagines the bedroom as a freezing sauna that visitors can sleep in
Asaf Kliger
View gallery - 11 images

Each December, Sweden's chilly Icehotel hosts frozen bedrooms filled with amazing ice sculptures for a few months, before it all melts away into a puddle again as arctic winter turns to spring. This year's iteration is no exception and contains a selection of icy artworks ranging from the abstract to the sublime.

This year is the 31st year of the Icehotel. As always, its creation involved the harvesting of thousands of ice blocks from a nearby frozen river in Jukkasjärvi, Swedish Lapland that were then painstakingly carved into the sculptures by a team of 24 skilled artists.

Icehotel 31 contains 12 new frozen art suites, plus there's another six in the permanent hotel that's established nearby. Additionally, there's an ice bar, ceremony hall for weddings, ice furniture and even ice light fittings.

The frozen bedrooms are kept at a chilly -5 °C (23 °F), and guests must sleep on a thick mattress and reindeer hides, though standard warm hotel rooms are also available too for those who prefer to sleep in toasty comfort. The collection of themed rooms this year is quite abstract and includes the depiction of children's toys, a frozen woodland, fantastical creatures, and a frozen sauna.

Hang Loose was designed by Edith Van De Wetering and Wilfred Stijge and is conceived as an icy art gallery
Asaf Kliger

"Step into a frozen forest in the Ceremony Hall Skogen, a world full of toys in the suite Toybox, or enter what’s probably the coldest sauna in the world in the art suite Sauna," says the press release. "If the temperature doesn't meet expectations there, cold can quickly be replaced by a hot sauna experience in a private relaxation room for everyone who stays the night in one of the deluxe suites in Icehotel 365."

Icehotel 31 is now running until April 11th 2021, after which it will close its chilled doors and begin to melt away. A night in one of the eye-catching cold art suites will set you back from 2595 SEK per night (roughly US$310). Those who can't make the trip can head to the gallery to see a selection of the suites from this this year's collection and Icehotel is also promoting its Instagram page as an AR experience this year (though that link only works on mobile devices).

Source: Icehotel

View gallery - 11 images
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2 comments
paul314
So how long do virus particles last at -5 C?
buzzclick
This is amazing. Not only are the sculptures wonderfully creative but the clever use of lighting makes the whole thing pop. We have a yearly ice hotel here too, but this one takes the cake.