Sculpted entirely of ice and snow, Sweden's 21st Ice Hotel opened in mid-November this year with 60 rooms, including 21 rooms designed and sculpted by artists. Travelers looking for ice hotel holidays are strongly advised to limit a stay to one night in the -5°C temperatures. All of the furniture, including the beds are made of ice. Even the Absolut icebar has glasses made of ice for your vodka. The northern lights are part of the experience.
Sculptors From Around the World
Forty artists were chosen in 2010; about half of the artists had no prior experience working in ice and snow.
Applications to participate in the project come from sculptors all over the world.
The artists chosen for the 21st Ice Hotel come from as far away as Japan, Spain, the United States, Australia, Chile, Switzerland, and Mexico. In addition to creativity, they were also chosen for a sense of humor. Architects and sculptors, working together with water (frozen) from the Torne river as their only material, created a surreal artistic beauty roughly 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The Art Suites
One of the 21 art suites is designated as the deluxe suite. This icy suite comes with a colored light display that is timed to coincide with the light of an arctic winter day. There is a suite that feels like being in a large bird nest, complete with eggs and the legs of parent birds keeping watch over their nest. Have a spooning experience in a suite with a large drawer divider with knives and forks in the compartments on either side of the bed. The Melted Geometry Suite may have you wondering if spring has come, and the melting has begun.
Two New York artists have created Gotham in the Arctic. The Free Falling Suite is complete with enormous snowflakes, each one different, just like each of the art suites are different. The beauty, whimsy, and wonder of the suites is fleeting. The spring thaw warms and melts the magic until another year and another set of suites takes their place.
The Ice Hotel Weddings
Weddings are booked in the church which is the last of the buildings to be opened each year. As in the suites, the light, in combination with so much ice, is truly unique to the far north. It is a truly spectacular wedding venue, which will melt to be replaced by a different church each year.
There are other ice hotels around the world, but Jukkasjarvi is the site of the very first. It is a unique destination for travelers as well as a unique opportunity for sculptors. The 2010-11 season includes nightly tours to view the northern lights. Ice Hotel holidays are an extraordinary experience in every sense.
Corinne Shibley - Corinne Shibley studied sculpture in art history and created her own sculpture on the way to a B.A. in Studio Art. "There's something ...
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