Icehotel 365, placing the blocks

All the ice we need is in our Suite now. But, of course we do like complicated “but looking easy” works, we have to lift them up to almost 2,5 meters, slide them over other iceblocks, glue them and finally sculpt them.

For this job we can count on our wonderful support team: Mats, Annah, Lidia, Dave and Luca. They are careful, playful, sweet and skilled in approaching the artists.

The temperature outside is dripping down and in the same time even inside is getting colder. Also all the amount of ice placed it helps to cool down the ambience. Yes, because the ice is a great reserve of cold energies. Think that in summer, with hot weather and sun, a full iceblocks ( 2 tons) can survive more than a week…imagine here that we have no sun, almost minus 18 today!

The bed is almost shaped: the guests of “The Wishfulthinking Deluxe Suite” will sleep in the reflection of the moon in the Thorne River. Yes, the full moon will reflect herself in the river, and it will turn into a halfmoon. Inside this halfmoon, there will be a brandnew kingsize bed, where the guests will be able to enjoy the Arctic nights allover the year.

…to be continued…

Piazzando i blocchi

Tutto il ghiaccio di cui abbiamo bisogno è nella nostra Suite ora. A noi piace giocare difficile”ma che sembri facile”, quindi dobbiamo sollevarli fino a quasi 2,5 metri, farli scorrere sugli altri blocchi, incollarli fra loro e, infine, scolpirli.

Per questo lavoro possiamo contare sul nostro meraviglioso team di supporto: Mats, Annah, Lidia, Dave e Luca. Sono attenti, divertenti, dolci ed abili nell’affrontare gli artisti.

La temperatura esterna e in picchiata verso il basso e nello stesso tempo anche all’interno è sempre più freddo. Inoltre tutta la quantità di ghiaccio posizionata aiuta a raffreddare l’ambiente. Sì, perché il ghiaccio è una grande riserva di energia fredda. Pensate che in estate, con il caldo e il sole, un blocco di ghiaccio grande (2 tonnellate) può sopravvivere più di una settimana … immaginate qui che non abbiamo il sole, ed oggi ci sono quasi meno 18 gradi!

Il letto ha quasi preso forma: gli ospiti di “The Wishfulthinking Deluxe Suite” dormiranno nel riflesso della luna nel fiume Thorne. Sì, la luna piena si riflette nel fiume, e si trasforma in una mezzaluna. All’interno di questa mezzaluna, ci sarà un letto matrimoniale nuovissimo, dove gli ospiti potranno godersi le notti artiche durante tutto  l’anno.

…to be continued…

 

 

Icehotel 365, we got some ice!

We got some ice!!!

One week is already gone, and “The wishfullthinking deluxe suite” is taking shape. We are in the middle of our arctic adventure, a lot of work has been done, and a lot still to do! We order “few” blocks of ice, and they are starting to arrive. We planned to use around 40 iceblocks, that will weight around 600Kg each….we will carve the blocks and at the end the suite will look soo light that nobody will believe that they will enjoy the lappish night surrounded by 24 tons of frozen water!

How to find such a big block of ice? There are not many places in the world where the ice grows that much; Jukkasjarvi is one of those. The width , the speed and the minerality of the Thorne river makes this possible. In march, when the arctic nights leave space to the spring sun, Harpo and Arthur are harvesting the blocks that we will use to build the next Icehotel. They are the best tractor drivers I ever saw, so rough outside, but so gently in moving such fragile material. The ice is so hard, and with the low temperatures you can have up here, when you touch the edges and corners, is so easy to break them. Luckly we can count on them to move those tons of materials!

The days and nigths are getting colder up here, and days shorter. You can really noticed the difference from one day to the other…in december it will be impossibile to see the sun, and in june it will be sun for 24 hours. We also had the chance to see the first Northern light for this year. It has been cloudy before, but now it seams we gonna enjoy many of those wonderfull natural gifts. The sky it esplodes with colours in movemnet, and in few seconds it can disappear. This is really one of the main reason why I came up here the first time.

…to be continued..

Finalmente ci arriva un po ‘di ghiaccio !!!

Una settimana è già passata, e “La suite deluxe wishfullthinking” sta prendendo forma. Siamo nel bel mezzo della nostra avventura artica, tanto lavoro è stato fatto, e molto ancora da fare! Ordiniamo “pochi” blocchi di ghiaccio, e stanno iniziando ad arrivare. Abbiamo programmato di usare circa 40 blocchi, che pesano circa 600Kg ciascuno… .scolpiremo  i blocchi e alla fine la suite sembrerà così luminosa e leggera che nessuno crederà di potersi godere la notte lappone, circondati da 24 tonnellate di acqua ghiacciata!

Come trovare un blocco di ghiaccio così grande? Non ci sono molti posti nel mondo dove il ghiaccio cresce più di 1 metro; Jukkasjarvi è uno di quelli. La larghezza, la velocità e mineralità del fiume Thorne rendono questo possibile. A marzo, quando le notti artiche lasciano spazio al sole primaverile, Harpo e Arthur “pescano” i blocchi che useremo per costruire il prossimo Icehotel. Sono i migliori che abbia mai visto alla guida un bulldozer; apparentemente  così duri ed aspri, ma così delicati nel muovere un materiale così fragile. Il ghiaccio è così duro e cristallino, e con le basse temperature che si possono avere qui, quando si toccano i bordi e gli angoli, è estremenente facile da mandare in mille pezzi. Fortunatamente possiamo contare su di loro per spostare le tonnellate che ci servono!

I giorni e le notti sono sempre più freddi qui, e le giornate più brevi. Si può davvero notare la differenza da un giorno all’altro … nel mese di dicembre sarà impossibile vedere il sole, e in giugno ci sarà il sole per 24 ore. Abbiamo anche avuto la possibilità di vedere la prima Aurora Boreale di quest’anno. E ‘stato quasi sempre nuvoloso prima, ma ora cercheremo di godere il più possibile di questi favolosi doni della natura. Il cielo esplode con i colori in movimento, e in pochi secondi tutto può scomparire. Questo è davvero uno dei motivi principali per cui sono venuto qui la prima volta.

 

…to be continued…

Icehotel 365, never leave any unattended tool!

We finally have a space where we can start to place our snow and ice, and which will become “The Wishfull Thinking” Deluxe Suite of The Icehotel 365. One block of snow will become the beginning of our floor, and the other one will become the backwall of the suite, where is placed the door to the cozy and brand new private Spa bathroom, designed by my collegue Marjolein Vonk.

Where this block are coming from? They were made last year, chopping and mixing many times the beautiful snow of Jukkasjarvi, and after few days of resting in wooden boxes, they were waiting for us in the huge storage of the Icehotel. We come and we can choose them, according to which one will fit better our design. They were made the first time few years ago for a big project, displayed in Paris, for a world known fashion brand . They were so well done and the snow quality so high, that they are still producing them and  now we still call them “Chanel Block”, which sounds like a familiar nick name, but aswell a bit chic.

The first step is cutting the two blocks in slices by the chainsaw, and they have to be all with the same size, otherwise the floor will be unconfortable and the wall will not last all the season. This is a very precise work…but we all love the chainsaw that we got to use for this 2 weeks and we enjoy doing those difficult works. The tools that we get, they become like our babies, we have to take care of them. The only problem is that, when the final rush is getting closer, everybody need every tool, and so we all have to hide what we need, otherwise it will be stolen, and finded in april, when the whole Hotel will melt down and go back to the wild Torne River. In Jukkasjarvi you can leave your wallet, your camera, your passport, no problem…but NEVER, NEVER leave any tools unattended. It will disappear!

..to be continued…

Finalmente abbiamo uno spazio dove possiamo cominciare a posizionare i nostri blocchi di neve e ghiaccio, e che diventerà “The Wishfull Thinking” Deluxe Suite dell’ Icehotel 365. Un blocco di neve diventerà l’inizio del nostro pavimento, e l’altro diventerà la parete posteriore della suite, dove si trova la porta per l’accogliente e nuovissimo bagno privato Spa, progettato dalla mia collega Marjolein Vonk.

Ma da dove arrivano questi blocchi di neve? Sono stati fatti l’anno scorso, fresando e mescolando più volte la bella neve di Jukkasjarvi, e dopo qualche giorno di riposo in scatole di legno, ci hanno aspettato nell’ enorme deposito dell’ Icehotel. Veniamo fin quassù e li possiamo scegliere, in base a quale si adatta meglio il nostro design ed a quel punto diventano nostri. . Sono stati fatti per la prima volta alcuni anni fa per un grande progetto, durante un evento a Parigi, per un famossisimo marchio di alta moda. Erano così ben fatti e la qualità della neve così alta, che ancora oggi li producono e li chiamiamo ancora “Chanel Block”, che suona come un nome familiare, ma anchel un po ‘chic.

Il primo passo è tagliare i due blocchi a fette con la motosega, e devono essere tutti con la stessa dimensione, altrimenti il pavimento sarà scomodo e la parete non durerà tutta la stagione. Questo è un lavoro molto preciso … ma tutti noi amiamo le motoseghe che ci vengono consegnate da utilizzare per queste 2 settimane e ci divertiamo ad usare degli attrezzi così pericolosi e bruti per dei lavori fini. Gli strumenti che ci vengono forniti diventano come i nostri bambini, dobbiamo prenderci cura di loro. L’unico problema è che, quando il rush finale si avvicina, tutti hanno bisogno di tutti gli strumenti, e così dobbiamo nascondere quello che ci serve, altrimenti sarà rubato, e ritrovato nel mese di aprile, quando l’intero hotel si scioglierà e ritornerà a scorrere nel selvaggio Torne River.. In Jukkasjarvi è possibile lasciare il portafoglio, la macchina fotografica, il passaporto, nessun problema … ma MAI, MAI lasciare alcun attrezzo incustodito. In attimo scomparirà!

..to be continued

Icehotel 365, a new adventure starts!

Day 1

Again up in the north, old friends, old memories but many surprises.That’s what keeps us alive. The new adventure is called Icehotel 365.

The main difference is that this Icehotel will not melt, it will be kept alive by the solar power, so the guests and visitors can enjoy the arctic nights even during the beautiful summer. It’s a huge challenge, and it is an honor to be called to be part of it. me and my collegue Marjolein Vonk, a stylist from  Amsterdam, will build a Luxury suite.

Second time we work together, last year it has been a great experience, and we hope to repeat it! We sent in our design, and now it’s time to touch a bit of snow and ice. We planned to use many blocks of ice and snow, it will be a suite filled up by tons of frozen water, giving to the guest the feeling of being rocked by the moon.

Our room is not ready to be sculpt by us, so we decide to spend the first day helping out Roland who has to build some benches and other interiors for the Icehotel365. He will mainly use old wood, and he needs some help to get this wood from his family house, which is a bit to the south. We make a fire, having a tipical swedish fika and then load the trailer. On the way back we stop because we found a beautiful missisipi style boat, and we got some ideas….We go back to the Icehotel and we plan the next day, which will be our first working. The first 2 snow blocks are on their way to our suite.

….to be continued…

Giorno 1

Anche stavolta a nord, vecchi amici, vecchi ricordi ma molte sorprese mi attendono.Ma sono proprio queste cose che mi tengono in vita. La nuova avventura si chiama Icehotel 365.

La differenza principale è che questo Icehotel non si scioglierà, sarà tenuto in vita dall’energia  solare, così gli ospiti ed i visitatori potranno godere delle notti artiche anche durante la bella estate. E ‘una sfida enorme, ed è un onore essere chiamato a farne parte. Io e la mia collega Marjolein Vonk, una stylist di Amsterdam, costruiremo una Luxury Suite.

Seconda volta che lavoriamo insieme, l’anno scorso è stata una grande esperienza, e speriamo di ripeterla! Abbiamo inviato il nostro progetto, ed ora è il momento di toccare un po ‘di neve e ghiaccio. Abbiamo programmato di usare molti blocchi di ghiaccio e neve, sarà una suite riempita da tonnellate di acqua congelata, che regalerò al cliente la sensazione di essere cullato dalla luna.

La nostra camera non è pronta per essere scolpita, così decidiamo di trascorrere il primo giorno aiutando Roland che deve costruire alcune panchine e altri interni per l’ Icehotel365. Userà prevalentemente legno vecchio, e ha bisogno di aiuto per trasportare questo legno dalla sua casa di famiglia, che è un po ‘ più a sud.  Accendiamo un fuoco, sorseggiamo un tipico caffè svedese e quindi carichiamo il rimorchio. Sulla via del ritorno ci fermiamo perché troviamo una favolosa barca stile Missisipi, e subito iniziamo a fantasticare su progetti futuri…

Torniamo all Icehotel e programmiamo la giornata successiva, che sarà il nostro primo giorno di vero lavoro. I primi 2 blocchi di neve sono in viaggio verso la nostra suite.

…to be continued…

 

Is the winter finished?

Last day of the ski season: me and my girlfriend  decided to celebrated with a very short climb up, and an even shorter coming down together with my Dutch colleague and friend and then getting quickly ready for the city.

In this days the biggest city of Northern Italy is getting sparkling of designer, artists , architects and creative people ( as Arne always says…). I cannot miss it!!!

We take the train and by evening we are in Milan, ready to explore this 2016’s edition of the Salone del Mobile  and, what we like more, the  Fuori Salone.  Monday morning me and Marjolein we have a rendez-vous with a baby coming right from the north. We arrive in Lambrate, Via Ventura, and we saw our baby: an ice block, weighting 750kg, harvested 3 weeks ago, in the Thorne river, in Sweden, arrived right here for an installation of our friend Pieke Bergmans.

What we gonna do this time? no chainsaw, no chisel, no modelling, no shaping….we just have to place it and wait untill it will melt. Easy eh? It looks easy, but actually we have to list it up and place it in a middle of an alluminium bassin, on an alluminium table, without scratching it of course, and without any forklift….we plan to do it in 2 hours.

At the end, we started at 9 am , and we finished at 17 pm…..but is done, which is the main thing, and Pieke is happy that we did it while she was busy installing her light sculptures which are really imprassive and fragile.

We can celebrate it with few beers and a very nice dinner invited by our friend Pieke.

The morning after is my day off, so I start in the early morning: metro, destination Rho fiera, so visit the enormous salone del Mobile. I have a meeting at 12 with a Luxury Design Brand, so before I take a look in some stands, take some contacts and leave some catalogues. My meeting went well, maybe an interesting collaboration in the future, and I decide to go back to the Fuori Salone.I am so curious to see how is looking our baby, and I have to say it is pretty good, but a bit inclinated. Then we all get out and take a walk in Ventura , which is one of the most interesting part of the Fuori Salone. Nice people, nice installation and presentation of young and new designers. Soon unfortunately is time to run to the train and go home. But, just before going, an old friend from Holland just land in Milan, so is time again to celebrate. Sorry to leave, but i have to…

Short but full little break….a very nice way to escape a bit from the routine, after the long cold ( to be true not really)  season.

to be continued…

 

 

 

Icehotel n°26, day 14 till the end

We finally are sad and happy in the same time.

Sad because all our friends left for their houses and even if the Icehotel is starting to be filled up by tourists, we feel a bit lonely. At the restaurant no more line, in the night, the bar is so silent…..

Happy because finally we have all the tools for us!!!! and is amazing….

So, no excuses anymore. Now we have to do some serious work. We have now our snow platform where we will build the bed, and the trees are alsmost completely shaped….it looks like we have not much to do, but we have a loooot . The final touchs are always the most important and most dangerous, and we have to be so focused on what we are doing.

Vonk: and now you listen!!!!

The conclusion of such an important project it can be sometimes a bit electric and is so easy to jump as springs and start a fight. Luckly, me and my collegue we had just a small “fight”, to be true not a real fight…..we prefere to call it “misunderstanding”, but we solve it and we even found a better solution for our doubt.

Last night in Jukkasjarvi. We cannot imagine a best way to celebrate it, than crossing the river and having a beautiful Japanese dinner cooked by our wonderfull collegues, in Arne’s house, in Poikkjarvi. We even saw a little Aurora tonight, sooo perfect!

Now we are deeply proud of our luxury suite, and we can’t wait to make our presentation to our friends, collegues, guides and showed up people.

First the presentation of Natsky, Shingo and Rise ( the best neighboor )  and , as always, they are so nice. Then is our turn. We wait all the people inside our suite, we are sitted on our swings , and when they enter we have to say they are all impressed. They never saw ice swings in the Icehotel, and this was actually our mission: try to tell what is our vision and idea of luxury. Nothing about owning, of being able to buy the best things. But we think is all about being able to do whatever we want. Like building a treehouse, spend time in it ( maybe sleep in it) and even spend time on a swing.

This is our luxury: going back and feeling like a king just for those simple and basic emotions.

To be continued…..maybe

 

 

 

Icehotel n°26, day 8 & 9

Finally our luxury suite has all the ice blocks that we need inside. We placed almost 16 tons of thorne river’s ice and after “supergluing”them, we started to shape them. So, the trees are starting to look like trees and not anymore like big ice blocks. We try to reach the seeling with some of the branches adding fiew small pieces of ice on top…..and then is weekend!!!

The weekend started with a party hosted on the other side of the river by an old friend who had a lot to do with Icehotel in the past, and whom I personally met in Sydney in 2007…..yes, this world is definetely a very small ball! The day after, between one chisel and a chaisaw, we had the chance to try some of the Icehotel activity for turists….and we choose the dogsledge. Great!!! So silent, smooth, and nice to ride a sledge on the frozen river…actually we really hope is frozen!!

And saturday, the great kick in party, with all the artists, the builders and all the Icehotel’s staff. Off course, this has been always an hard job, but we are so diehard and we wont miss it.

to be continued…

 

 

Icehotel n°26, day 4 & 5

Finally, the 4th day, we placed our forst big block of ice.

Tchnical data: dimensions/ cm 75 x 100 x 230, weight / 1800 kg, color/blueish

It has been rahter tricky how to arise it and push it into the suite, but we got it. To complete the day we sniced the back wall, so is done.

The mornig after, we start rather early because the plan is complicated: put another big block on top of the vertical one! So we will have almost 2 tons on our heads for the next 2 weeks!! We build a “pallets tower” as support, and with the help of Mats, the big block is up, glued, slashed and we can go to lunch happy.

Aftyer lunch we arise another big block, but we have to be precise and make it very straight….during the levelling, all the Icehotel probably eard the death sound of an hard and heavy cube falling on a fluffy snow base. No problem, my partner Marjolein is saved, noone blessed, let’s take a new one. Luckly we have a big reserve of ice, so we have the permission to make few mistakes.

End of the day arrives soon, and we can really call it a day: 2 trees up, we know how to lift up the others, time for a chat with friends

To be continued

Icehotel n°26, Day 2&3

Something up there is happening. After a long working day, we celebrate the beginning of this building time with a nice barbecue on the river. Artists, kids, dogs and warm atmosphere in a chilly wind. At the end, when we are all ready to go and rest, we lift up our eyes and we see a tiny little start of a northern light. We go on the frozen river to catch the darkness, but the moon tonight is playing against us. In few minutes the show starts. Many colors, very fast shaking and sliding….a very good first aurora for this season!!

After the aurora hunting night, which means  coming back with frozen fingers, we all meet at the warm bar, which is becoming the meeting point for this year. Few beers, a lot of chat, and many laugh.

Sunday morning is always lazy: slow starting, no tractors running around, and minus 15 degrees on working place. We decide that the roof has to be finished by tonight, so then we can start to concentrate on the important stuff.

Icehotel n°26, Day one

After a looong trip, and half of it with my collegue  for the next 3 weeks, I finally arrived in the north of Sweden. I could have been in Australia in 20 hours, but in this moment iof the year, I feel so lucky and priviliged to be here.

My collegue, Marjolein a dutch stylist who I met first time up here in 2007, my very first time in this wonderland. Years by years we get more and more in touch, and this is the first time we will work together…..will it be the end of a friendship?  Cross fingers !!!!

First wake up in the northern breeze, and first breakfast meeting. Refreshing memories of old friend’s faces, and feeling like one year was fast as one night; this is Jukkasjarvi, this is Icehotel.

…to be continued