While Torne River slowly freezes over, something intriguing is emerging on the riverbank in Jukkasjärvi. On November 10, Jukkasjärvi Icehotel 365 opens up its doors – a permanent ice experience with nine deluxe suites, each with its own warm bathroom and sauna, as well as eleven art suites. The Ice hotel structure will also hold a magnificent ice bar that serves champagne and drinks, and an ice gallery – all of it created out of ice and snow by hand picked artists from around the globe.
This is the world’s first ICEHOTEL, situated in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden approximately 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.
The 2 100 square meter building will be filled with ice and snow from the pure Torne River and when the winter arrives Icehotel 365 becomes a part of the classic Lapland Ice hotel, which opens December 16. By then a total of 55 rooms, whereof 26 art suites and 9 deluxe suites, will be ready to fascinate and inspire the guests. Letting the ice express ephemeral art is the heart of Icehotel and this year the hotel with its 35 unique deluxe and art suites, ice chapel, ice gallery and ice bar will offer more art than ever in the history of Icehotel.
In the middle of October, the first round of creators arrives at Icehotel. Around forty artists, designers and architects from nine different countries will create the art in the year-round part of the hotel. The artists for Icehotel 365 are specifically invited and hand picked based of their creativity, experience and technical proficiency.
Several of the artists have previously designed suites and created art at Icehotel and amongst the veterans we find Jens Thoms Ivarsson (Swe) who together with his team will build this year’s Icebar, “the Fuzzy Chisel”. The French landscape architects Luc Voisin and Mathieu Brison (FR) return to Icehotel to create a deluxe suite inspired by the roaring 20’s, and the perennial duo Viktor Tsarski (BG) och Wouter Biegelaar (NL) are making another deluxe suite “Crystal Forest” that experiments with the reflections, shadows and depth of ice crystals. Lotta Lampa and Julia Gamborg Nielsen (Swe) will come to design the suite “Hydro Smack”, which seize the feeling of being at the bottom of the ocean. Two other artists that are coming back this year are the Kiruna designer AnnaSofia Mååg (Swe), who created the notable suite “Elephant In the Room” and the artist and designer Sofi Routsalainen (Swe) who has shaped ice art all over the world for Icehotel. Together the accomplished duo creates the deluxe suite “Pick Your Mustache!”
Deluxe suites with private saunas
When Jukkasjärvi Icehotel 365 opens up its doors, the overnight guests can enjoy a good night amongst art and sub-zero temperatures. There are two types of suites in Icehotel 365; deluxe suites and art suites. Both room types are exclusively designed by this year’s invited artists and include mattresses from the Swedish bed manufacturer Carpe Diem Beds. But every room is totally unique with its individual art and the deluxe suites got their own adjacent private warm bathroom with sauna and all amenities required.
Icehotel 365 will be revealed November 10, and the art will be presented by Arne Bergh, Senior Creative Director at Icehotel. The founder of Icehotel, Yngve Bergqvist will talk about the idea behind the hotel and the new ice bar has its grand opening.
The winter hotel will open December 16
For the genesis of Icehotel #27 we welcome another thirty artists from every corner of the globe. Amongst the artists that were picked by Icehotel’s jury there are both new and well-known names in the Icehotel setting. The Italian-Norwegian architect and designer Luca Roncoroni is back to make the suite “Lapland Waves”. In his suite the waves of the ocean have frozen to ice and the bed whimsically floats as if buoyed by the gentle caress of the ocean. The sculptor Katarina Rose (UK) is creating her first art suite at Icehotel, “Sleeping in a passionate thought”, and as the name suggests the guests will sleep in a room of whirling, passionate thoughts.
ICEHOTEL was founded in 1989 and is an art exhibition and hotel made of natural ice and snow from one of Europe’s last wild rivers. The artists and artwork vary from year to year, each rendition of the hotel presenting an ephemeral collection. The 2016 edition will be the 27th hotel and hold 55 rooms. When parts of ICEHOTEL melts back into the Torne River in the spring, ICEHOTEL 365 will continue to offer visitors an ice experience year-round.
