The Icehotel is built each year out of snow and ice blocks in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, near Kiruna. It is the world's first ice hotel. The hotel, including the bar, church, rooms, and restaurant, is constructed entirely out of snow and ice harvested from a nearby river. Artists from around the world design and sculpt the ice rooms and suites. The Icehotel opens in phases from December to January, and then melts away at the end of the winter season.

2. The Icehotel is a hotel built
each year with snow and
ice in the village
of Jukkasjärvi, in northern
Sweden, about 17
kilometres from Kiruna.
It is the world's first ice
hotel.

3. History
• In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of
ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a
cylinder-shaped igloo in the same area.
• They slept in the igloo in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skins, and
were the first guests of the "hotel".

4. Hotel
• The entire hotel is made out of snow and ice
blocks taken from the Torne River, even the
glasses in the bar are made of ice. Each
spring, around March, Icehotel harvests
tons of ice from the frozen Torne River and
stores it in a nearby production hall with
room for over 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of
ice and 30,000 short tons (27,200 t) of
snow.
• When completed, the hotel features a
bar, church, main hall, reception area,
plus rooms and suites for over 100
guests.The hotel hosts also an ice
restaurant.The furniture is sculpted
blocks of ice in the form of chairs and
beds. The thick walls, floor and ceiling
are made of ice. Even the beds, the
fittings and decoration are carved from
ice.

5. Church
• The local parish of Jukkasjärvi,
part of the Swedish Church,
runs the Ice Church. Following
co-operation with the Icehotel,
the Swedish Church operates
the Ice Church as a regular
church. Each year the church
is consecrated at the
Christmas Day service. During
the winter period around 140
couples get married and about
twenty children are baptized.

6. Icebar
• Icehotel AB searched for business partners during the early and
mid-1990s, and the founder, Yngve Bergqvist, decided upon Absolut
Vodka as the first sponsor. The first Absolut Icebar opened in
Icehotel in 1994, and today the concept is used in three
cities: London, Stockholm and Jukkasjärvi.
• Icebar by Icehotel is a franchise concept for ice bar. The concept
was launched in spring 2009, with the opening of the Ice Bar CPH
by Icehotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. The bar was followed in June
of that year by the Ice Bar Tokyo by Icehotel in Tokyo, Japan, and
shortly after, the Icebar Oslo by Icehotel in Oslo, Norway.

7. Decoration with
dry flowers
Absolut Icebar
Absolut Icebar
Main Hall 2008. Sculptures
by Lena Kriström.

8. Life cycle
• Each year the ICEHOTEL receives applications from artists around
the world to design the imaginative suites. In 2013 over 200
requests were submitted by different artists with different
qualifications – including theatre, structural design, camerawork and
interior design.
• After a couple of days, the forms are removed, leaving a maze of
free-standing corridors of snow. In the corridors, dividing walls are
built in order to create rooms and suites. Ice blocks are then
transported into the hotel, where selected artists start creating the
art and design of the perishable material.

9. • The Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi opens in phases:
-The first phase opens in the beginning of December.
-For each week, another section of the hotel opens up for visitors and guests
until the beginning of January.
-At this time, the entire construction is completed.
The suite "Coming out"
2008 by Maurizio
Perron

10. Acknowledgements
• To our Mercè for the oportunity to do this work.
• To Natalia and Estefania for their support.
• To Richard for their advice.
• And Rafa by eachother.