One of the world’s most unusual hotels, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, will open on 12 December.
ICEHOTEL 36 – it’s been erected each year since 1989 – is an hotel and art exhibition featuring original, artwork made from ice and snow.
Each winter, ICEHOTEL is recreated entirely from 2,000 tonnes of ice harvested from the Torne River, which is one of Sweden’s national rivers and last untouched waterways.
When the seasonal ice and snow hotel melts in spring, ICEHOTEL 365 remains, giving guests the chance to sleep among the Arctic ice art year-round.
This year’s international design competition attracted a record number 143 applications from across the globe, with more than 250 artists from 36 different countries.
The jury has selected 29 artists from nine countries who will create the unique art suites, the Main Hall, the Ceremony Hall, and the public art installations for ICEHOTEL 36.
The construction of the seasonal part of the hotel will begin in mid-November, when the artists gather in Jukkasjärvi, north of the Arctic Circle.
Together with a team of experts in ice and snow construction, ice production and lighting design, they will create a 2,800-square-metre hotel.