Every year, when Torne River turns to ice, a new ICEHOTEL is created in the small village of Jukkasjärvi in the north of Sweden. The ice of the river transforms to design and architecture at ICEHOTEL, an art project and the world’s first and largest hotel built of snow and ice. The Torne River every year supply ICEHOTEL with enough ice to build an entire hotel.
Yngve Bergqvist, that founded ICEHOTEL, was inspired by the Japanese ice sculpting tradition, and with the help of two professional ice sculptors from Japan as instructors, he invited artists to attend a workshop in Jukkasjärvi in 1989. This marked the start of a 26 year long journey with the Torne River- the worlds first ICEHOTEL.
The following winter saw the first ever ice structure – an especially designed igloo built using mold technique. The 60 m² igloo was intended to as an art gallery and was named ARTic Hall. The following winters, ARTic Hall attracted considerable attention. It was used not only to display art, but also for church services and film show cases.
One night, a party of guests asked if they could stay in ARTic Hall. They were equipped with reindeer skins and sleeping bags, and woke up enthralled by the experience. It was never intended for ARTic Hall to become a hotel, but after this experience the idea to ICEHOTEL was born.
When winter is at its darkest and coldest hour, artists from all over the world arrive to the village of Jukkasjärvi. They come to take part in the shaping of the art exhibition in snow, ice and light that constitutes ICEHOTEL. The makers changed from year to year.
Images courtesy of Martin Smedsén, Paulina Holmgren and Christopher Hauser
Discover: www.icehotel.com
