The 30th Icehotel opens its frosty doors in Sweden
by Stu Robarts | 18 Dec 2019
Credit: Icehotel
– Malin Franck
Sweden's iconic Icehotel is in its 30th year and the first pictures of the special anniversary creation have been released, showing glowing walls, glittering chandeliers and snowy sculptures.
The Icehotel – or some form of it – has been created every year since 1989, when founder Yngve Bergqvist ran an ice sculpting workshop on the edge of the Torne River in the village of Jukkasjärvi.
Nowadays, the Icehotel is constructed from 2,500 ice blocks harvested from the river with a total volume of 30,000m cu (1,060,000ft cu).
Despite its location 200km (124mi) north of the Arctic Circle, it attracts 70,000 visitors a year between December and mid-April.
Planning for this year's hotel began in Jukkasjärvi's early spring when the ice was harvested and the Icehotel jury decided which art suite proposals would become a reality, with designs released in September.
Construction took place over the course of two weeks, with 33 artists from 16 countries around the world working on the hotel.
The hotel houses 15 Art Suites and 20 Ice Suites, with an additional 9 Deluxe Suites and 11 Art Suites in the adjacent Icehotel 365, which was opened in 2016 to provide additional, year-round accommodation.
This year's creation also features an observation deck with views of the river, the Kaamos light and the Northern Lights, as well as a grand, 75m (246ft)-long Main Hall and a 4m (13ft)-tall Brutalist sculpture tower outside that guests can climb.
Malin Franck, CEO of Icehotel, said: "This year's anniversary hotel is really something special and we are happy to finally be able to welcome the guests into this glittering world."
Icehotel hotel Sweden
Art Suite A Night at the Theatre | Design Jonathan Paul Green & Marnie Green Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Bone Room | Design Rob Harding Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Main Hall Brutal Experience | Design Jens Thoms Ivarsson, Mats Nilsson. Words by Petri Tuominen Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Clear Water | Design AnnaSofia Mååg & Niklas Bygman Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Echos of the Torne River | Design Francisco Javier Cortes Zamudio Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Feline Lair | Artists Brian Alvin McArthur & Dawn Marie Detarando Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Ceremony Hall Ginkgo | Design Kauppi & Kauppi Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Golden Ice | Design Nicolas Triboulot & Jean-Marie Guitera Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Kaleidoscope | Design Natsuki Saito & Shingo Saito Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Ruossut | Design Anna Ohlund & John Pettersson Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Spring Dream | Design Lei Zhao & Yong Zhao Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite Subterranean | Design Daniel Rosenbaum & Jörgen Westin Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite The 6th Feeling | Design Ekaterina Barsukova and Vladimir Barsukov Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite The Day After | Design Marjolein Vonk &Maurizio Perron Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
Art Suite White Santorini | Design Haemee Han Jae & Yual Lee Credit: Asaf Kliger / Icehotel
04 Sep 2019
15 artists and designers selected to create 30th-anniversary edition of Sweden's Ice Hotel
Sweden's iconic Icehotel is in its 30th year and the first pictures of the special anniversary creation have been released, showing glowing walls, glittering chandeliers and snowy sculptures. The Icehotel – or some form of it – has been created every year since 1989, when founder Yngve Bergqvist ran an ice sculpting workshop on the edge of the Torne River in the village of Jukkasjärvi. Nowadays, the Icehotel is constructed
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