Icehotel in Northern Sweden - an exhilarating art experience

The Story of Icehotel tells that Yngve Bergqvist did not want to spend the rest of his life working for a big mining company in Kiruna Lapland, Sweden's north­ern city. Berg­qvist was an outdoorsman so he took up river-raf­t­ing. One day tourists asked him for a ride on the river and suddenly Berg­qvist was in business; then he went to the tourist office on week­ends to find clients. He grad­ually ex­pan­d­ed the rafting business to 40 summer employees and 30 boats. 

Front entrance Icehotel

Jukkasjävi

But summer in Sweden was short; there was no rafting on the frozen winter river. Bergqvist needed a winter business to supp­le­ment his summer earnings. He knew of Japanese tourists visiting Alaska in winter to see the Northern Lights, so in 1988 he travelled to Japan for the Snow Festivals. There he met a Japanese ice sculpt­or and they planned a winter ice-sculpting workshop in North Sweden.

Before the Jukkasjärvi workshop opened, it was 7c and raining. What would happen to the ice? The owners decided to let it be destroyed and they could make something new afterwards. What was new was the ICE-HOTEL, which would have a seasonally-defined lifespan. Us­ing the ice-sculpting skills Bergqvist had learnt, the hotel was made each wint­er using ice from the majestic Torne River. 200 km north of the Arc­t­ic Circle. 

The Swedish tourist board introduced Berg­qvist to Sakata, owner of the Japanese travel agency, Northern Express. A natural partner­ship grew where Sakata generated interest in Japan for travel to Sweden, and Bergqvist provided Sakata’s clients with a unique ex­perience in Swedish Lapland eg ice fish­ing, marrying in an ice chapel.

Jukkasjärvi, a historic marketplace, was where the midnight sun gl­owed during summer and didn’t rise above the horizon during 2 weeks in winter; where there was snow 8 months each year and the Aurora Borealis lit up the night sky; and where 900 residents lived.

In 1989 the 250 square meter igloo Artic Hall opened, a gallery with art created from ice and snow. On a cold winter day, all the warm cabins were booked for the night. Another group wanted to sleep in the cold Artic Hall, in warm sleeping bags. The morning after, IceHotel was born. Today it accommodates c100 people, with a new appearance every year since the first art exhibition in 1989.

Ever since, Icehotel has been an ephemeral ex­hibition to explore art by introducing creative individuals to ice and snow. The owners had to col­lect the most innovative and ground-breaking ideas from around the world, bring them to Jukkasjärvi and give them the material, tech­niques and tools to transform the ideas into actual hotel suites. When the temperature dropped in mid-Nov, the building pro­cess began. The snow was sprayed on huge inverted curve-shaped steel forms and allowed to freeze. After a few days, the forms were removed, leaving free-standing corridors of snow-ice, the main con­struction material for floors, walls and ceilings. Dividing walls went up and created suites.

A bedroom suite

The chapel

A bedroom suite, Hotel de Glace Quebec

to compare the artwork with Sweden's

As well as ice sculptors, the makers of Icehotel were graphic desig­ners, architects, industrial engineers and artists. In spring, the sun melted artwork and The Creative Board made an open call for de­sign proposals for next winter. The best concepts received an invit­at­ion to the two-week art sym­pos­ium, to create the suites in person. Out of 120-150 proposals, 15-20 were accepted and invited to come to Jukkasjärvi to build their de­s­ign. The panel tried to have a bal­anc­ed represent­at­ion of sex, age, nationality and experience. Some art­ists were local; others travelled from Asia or South America and had never seen snow before.

Moulds created the shape, but the material was strong enough to stand alone and after a few days, the moul­ds were removed. The corridors and rooms were constructed in a clas­sic, curved arch shape, which was self-supporting and very strong. Thus the entire hotel was made out of snow and ice blocks.

The hotel's ice bar

Main hall with ice-art

Each artist submit­ted ideas, then a jury chose 50 art­ists to create the facilities: the hotel itself, chapel, Absolut Ice Bar, re­ception area, ice-art main hall, cinema and suites for 100+ guests to sit and sleep on ice-chairs and ice-beds. When the artists arr­ived they could get started immediately, turning their sketches into real­ity - a 6-week period of intense activity! The river had changed shape and had been trans­for­m­ed into art. 

Visitors were given special winter clothing to use during the stay: thermal suit, thermal boots, fleece-lined hat and over-gloves. The lighting design was the last part, and as most of the art work was transparent, light added an important dimension. A team of light designers worked closely with the creators of each room in the hotel to ensure the lightning made the art work exhilarating. 

The Icehotel restaurant serves traditional dishes using lo­cal ingredients eg smoked egg yolk, cloudberries, rein­deer, moose tartar and Arctic char. And house cocktails eg Dog Sled Sour and Sparkling Polar Night. 

This winter resort expanded in 2016 with the opening of Icehotel365, run on solar power to stay –5c all year. To create a total experience for visitors, the owners planned adventure and culinary events in-house or in partnership with others. In Nov 2021, the 32nd version of the Icehotel will be built.

Note Kiruna and Jukkasjärvi 

in Northern Sweden

Thank you to Icehotel for the images.