The Art of the Icehotel - original every year.

A visit in the ICEHOTEL promises interesting memories of snow, dog sleigh rides, an amazing natural landscape and perhaps some aurora borealis to boot. You'll also get to see and experience art that only exists for one season, art that is meticulously planned and cut out of pure clean ice and sculpted with snow. For twenty five years, the original Swedish Icehotel has been constructed on the banks of Torne River, in Jukkasjärvi, shortly outside of Kiruna, and then when the summer sun arrives, it melts right back into the river. Above you can see this years grand entry being propped up, as snow will be used to construct the walls. Reborn like an ice phoenix ever year, this year is already extra special, as weddings, proposals, baptisms and anniversary celebrations are being planned both by the guests and the hotel itself, as this remote chilly getaway is quite the romantic spot. We spoke to the people who create this unique ice art to see how the creative process works here, making something that will melt has its advantages in exploring your creativity, Jens Thoms Ivarsson, Head of Design at ICEHOTEL, explains that it sets them free;
"There’s a great sense of freedom in working with a material that will disappear within a year, sometimes within hours. I used to work a lot in stone, which prompts you to ask yourself: Is this good enough? Because you know it’s going to be there for a long time. When working with ice, you can let your hair down. It doesn’t matter if gets a bit weird – even crazy – or just fun. It’s going to melt away." This years hotel will have 50 rooms, of which 19 are art suites built by 13 designers from all over the world. There will also be an Ice Church, an Ice bar and a theater shaped like a dome; called Aurora Hall.
Much of the creative process that the designers go through you'll recognize, there's tissue sessions, sketches, 3D renderings made, and a collaborative spirit in solving the technical or crafting issues that may arise. The sculpting of each room can take up to three weeks. This year you'll find a room with a life-sized crystal clear ice elephant in it, called "The elephant in the room", by Annsofia Mååg. The pieces of the elephant are being carved out of ice-blocks as you read this, while the walls are being snow-cannon blasted around it.