The ICE HOTEL

 

 

This was a project that my friend and I did on the Culture and Environment in Architecture and we chose to document on the ICE HOTEL in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.

It was the home to the First Ice  and Snow Hotel in the World. Since the Ice Hotel is rebuilt each year and the designs are changed each year, we chose to focus on the ICE HOTEL of 2007/2008. The hotel lasts for 4 months every year from December to April and then it melts and goes back to the River. It has been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Sweden.

Location
Jukkasjarvi is a small village 200km north of the Arctic Circle in the Kiruna Municipality in Northern Sweden. There is a population of about 600 people in this village that is at an elevation of 321 meters. Cohkkirasjavri means “lake of assembly” in the Sami language. Finnish speaking residents were the first settlers in the village in the 17th Century. They changed the name to a more Finnish name, Jukkasjarvi, thereby changing its meaning to “Meeting Place”. Ever since the ICE HOTEL, the village has become a popular tourist attraction. Torne River in the village is the main source for the building of the ICE HOTEL.

The Beginning – How it all began
Jukkarsjavi is known for founding the world’s first Ice Hotel. It started during an art exhibition held by a French Artist, in spring 1989 a cylinder- shaped igloo in the area. When the town ran out of rooms, the visitors spent the night in the Igloo – Exhibition hall, sleeping in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin; thus they were the first guests and inspirations for the concept and creation of the first “ICE HOTEL”.

Environment
The temperature must stay well below Zero Degrees (0˚ C) in order to build a safe and sound hotel. And in the Arctic things aren’t predictable as Mother Nature always has a say – she can either be your best friend or worst enemy.
During the time of construction of the Ice Hotel, up in the Arctic, working inside has one big advantage – There is light. Outside there is very little light. The sun rises around 10 in the morning but stays behind the hills for about 3 hours and then it goes down by 2pm.

Culture & Customs
St. Lucia Day is observed each year on December 13th prior to the opening of the hotel on December 16th. It is celebrated throughout Sweden; it is a celebration of St. Lucia who brings light to the darkest days of the arctic winter.

Ice Hotel’s Absolut Ice bar is officially opened then with the Lucia procession, made up of boys and girls from the area of Kiruna. Traditionally the procession is led by the chosen Lucia with the other boys and girls called star boys follow carrying candles and singing traditional songs. They are dressed in white robes and the  lead girl will wear a crown of candles.

Design Team
Architect - Ake Larsson is the Architect for the ICE HOTEL. He has been involved in the contribution and designing of the hotel since 1994. His skills involve him in been an experienced wood sculptor and furniture maker. 

Creative Director - Arne Bergh’s work is well known for his working with wood, in sculptor works for exhibitions and for work in the Vasa Museum in 1990. Arne has been working with the ICE HOTEL full time since 1996 and is currently the Creative Director.

Structure Chief - Mark Armstrong from the UK was educated in architecture and design in Oxford. He is the Structure Chief for ICE HOTEL. He too sculpts ice and snow.

Resources for Structure and Building of Ice Hotel
Torne River is the origin and artery of the ICE HOTEL. The river was born when glaciers carved a riverbed 10,000 years ago. The crystal- clear pure water from the River flows along a 600km path through Lapland out to the sea in the South-East. The ice and snow of Ice Hotel is borrowed from the River each year.

Every spring, during the month of March, the Ice harvest begins at the Torne River. 3,000 blocks of ice at a weight of 1½ tonnes are cut from the River. These are the building blocks for the Ice Hotel. Then they will be hauled to a giant warehouse house freezer to be stored over the summer till construction begins.

Construction Process
Each year as the winter begins a team of architects, designers, artists and snow builders from all over the world gather in Jukkasjarvi for the construction of the Ice Hotel. The entire hotel is built in 6 weeks each year from ground up.

Snow cannons, just like the ones in ski hills are used to create snow. The cannons force pure Torne River water under high pressure through tiny nozzles.

When the water hits the frigid air, it turns to snow. 60,000 tonnes of snow is formed over the 6 weeks to build the Ice Hotel. Like concrete, construction snow must be just right to harden properly. This is called “SNICE”, half snow, half ice. 

The hotel’s basic design is based on the Catenary Arch, a classic engineering form that dates back 4 centuries. It provides the ideal strength to an arch that supports only its own weight.

To build them; crews move the arch shaped metal forms into position. They tie them together tightly and a snow blower rented from the local airport hurls the snow onto them. This process is called “Casting”. Once the casting freezes, the forms are lowered and hauled out, leaving a maze of free-standing corridors and crews of workers smooth the rough cast walls by hand.

Sometimes depending on the weather, artificial reinforcements such as wooden supports are used. Then its covered with snow and large wire reinforcing mats are placed and weighed down on top with more snow. This ensures that the roof won’t collapse even if it stays warm.

They measure doors, cut them, and then scoop them out. Electricians run wiring for light, wall sockets and switches. Interior dividing walls are built by hurling tonnes of snow on plywood forms that are later removed. Then the crew erects ice pillars to support the weight of the roof and finally they build ice walls to cap it all off.

Interiors & Descriptions
The Ice Hotel has a whopping 80 guest rooms, a swanky lobby, a king size bar, luxury suites and even a church, all made of the purest ice in the world.

RECEPTION - Long, tall, elegant sculptures or columns grace the open space of the Reception, a dramatic but calming entrance to a world of beauty and fantasy.

MAIN HALL - Jesisca is a flower in bloom, welcoming and alluring in style and form. Smooth, flowing lines capture the organic essence of the chairs, each one representing two of the flower’s petals. It is a place for meeting, mingling and enjoying the essence.

ICE CHURCH - Linnea Borealis: Graced with the motive of the national flower of Sweden, 'Linnaea Borealis' pays tribute to Carl von Linné, and is a place for spiritual reflection and meditation.

ABSOLUT ICEBAR - Named after the well-known vodka of  Sweden, Absolut. It is a comfortable lounge in an exclusive environment, ABSOLUT ICEBAR surrounds you with bold and stylish designs as you relax and unwind.

 SUITES & ROOMS - Designers from around the world design the suites for Ice Hotel. A walk within will reveal the inspirations of time, ego and gold represented in different shapes and designs.

The Renaissance “News” - Architecture and Design

A walk back in time would be a difference in the subject and so I have chosen to go back to one the early stages in Architecture and Design and go to the time of the Renaissance and discuss about the Architecture and Design in different countries across Europe.

The Renaissance “news” is the arts, painting, sculpture and architecture produced in Europe during the time of the Renaissance years that covered almost 200 years from 1400 to 1600. The most significant aspects of the Renaissance style is of its classical forms originally developed by the Ancient Greeks and Romans and its concern with secular life with the interest in humanism and assertion of the importance of the individual. Artists developed aerial perspective and northern painters such as from the Flanders and Netherlands were as advanced as the Italians were and they introduced oil painting as a new medium. The Renaissance “news spread among Italy, Northern Europe, Flanders, Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain.

Italy was the first country that the renaissance first developed in because of the availability of the works of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Roman arts, architecture, and sculpture were found almost in every town and city. In the 15th Century, sculpture led to the new Renaissance. Three Florentines made crucial innovations during this time. Filippo Brunelleschi became an archite ct and was the first true Renaissance builder. He introduced spatial integrity, which was unique to the Renaissance.  Lorenzo Ghiberti was best at the relieves (Fig 1) he made for the bronze doors and Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, known as Donatello (Fig 2 – Statue of David by Donatello) was the most influential artist of the time because he travelled widely.

The Early Renaissance Painting includes Masaccio  (Fig 3 – A fresco painting by Masaccio) who was  the first painter to include the new techniques in his fresco painting of depicting the life Saint Peter. He had a  very dramatic effect on the course of art although he died at the age of 27. Another early Renaissance painter is Paolo Uccello who painted the Three Battle Scenes in the late 1440s for the Medici Palace in Florence and during the same time Fra Angelico, a monk, combined the new Renaissance styles with color and treatment (Fig 4). Some of the other artists during this time were Florence, Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini who was regarded as the founder of Renaissance painting in Venice and who was the father of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini and father-in-law of Andrea Mantegna, who were great masters of painting. Leon Battista Alberti who was a humanist, Latin scholar and prolific writer summed up the arts of the Early Renaissance. He had a little experience with painting sculpture and architecture and he designed several churches in Mantua and in his books he synthesized all innovations made and included Ancient practices. As a result, the new idea spread throughout Italy and beyond.

During the second generation of the Renaissance, the innovation in aerial and linear perspective, the rendition of landscape, the powerful figural types and the rigorous compositions were further refined. Antonio del Pollaiulo and Andrea del Verrocchio of which both were sculptors and painters explored the complexities of the human anatomy.  Leonardo da Vinci (Fig 5)whose scientific and artistic investigations were the most important to the Renaissance later took these concerns. Bright, rich, strong colors became the characteristic of the Venetian painting. Some of the leading painters of this time were Sandro Botticelli, Sebestiano del Piombo, Giorgione and Titian and Giovanni Bellini. Oil Painting on canvas was introduced at this time and also heavy outlines in establishing an image were introduced.

The artists of the High Renaissance were responsible for taking art to a level of noble expression. The gigantic Statue of  David (Fig 6) made in 1501 – 1504 by Michelangelo in Florence became a masterpiece of the High Renaissance of which the standards of the other arts were measured. Artists tended to reduce their subjects to the bare essentials so that the viewer’s attention would be drawn to the theme. The centre of the High Renaissance was shifted to Rome and the court of the Pope Julius II hired leading Italian artists to work on ambitious projects. An outstanding architect of that time was Donato Bramante, an Umbrian  who was a painter. The most notable of all his designs was the design for the main church of the Roman Catholic Christendom for the new Saint Peter’s Basilica (Fig 7). This was later taken over by Michelangelo who changed to his own architectural aims keeping Bramante’s original design in concept.

Then in the Late Renaissance Art when Michelangelo, Titian and Raphael were working in a figurative style, others moved in a more lyric and decorative direction, which removed classical antiquity. These works and masterpieces show the new style known as Mannerism, Jacopo Carrucci also known as Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino who travelled a lot ending his career in France were the masters, during the time of the Late Renaissance.  The qualities found in the arts of Rosso (Fig 8 – Art work of Rosso) and Pontormo became popular and from about 1530 till the end of the 16th Century, Italian art became consistent. Andre Palladio was an influential architect who was trained as a stone carver. His best know works can be seen in the country villas in Venice. Jacopo Sansovino too was an architect who was trained in sculpture and his best works is of the Marble Bacchus in 1514. The greatest painter of Mannerist of the time was Jacopo Robusti in Venice who combine rich color of Titian with Michelangelo’s powerful line.

Art of the Northern Europe turned into a remedy having it readily accessible for alternate solutions. The features included of late Gothic culture existed with changes that took place with the world and the personalities of Italy. Countries such as Germany, the Lowlands and England didn’t accept the changes during the Renaissance as suddenly as it came. The earliest works of the 15th Century were in a much smaller scale than the ones created in Italy.

Jan Van Eyck (Fig 9 – A Masterpiece from Jan Van Eyck)  was the founder of Renaissance painting in Flanders an d Netherlands. The style was developed from realism of the Limbourg brothers and the innovations of the use of light. There were many famous artist during this time and most of the arts were evolved from the Italians. Most painting was of illustrations for folk proverbs with some humor in them. Sculptors were not innovative as they retained to the Gothic style and the Renaissance didn’t affect the architectural forms.

The French too, as the Northern Europeans were slow to accept the changes of the Renaissance and during the early 16th Century an acceptance came about by the hiring of  Italian artists to work at the court of King Francis I. In 1516, Leonardo da Vinci was brought to France but because of his old age he couldn’t do any work there. The main point of Renaissance art was seen from the work at the Palace of Fontainbleau.(Fig 10)

There was a well-known tradition in painting in Germany during the Renaissance because of the well-known artists of the time.They had very close links to the Gothic style and they also included the medieval past into their arts. The Germans too were very slow to the accept the changes of the Italians but eventually they progressed in book printing by following the art of printing. Albrecht Durer (Fig 11) led Germany to starting of using Renaissance art. He was a painter and graphic master. His best masterpiece was the “Passion and the Life of the Virgin” which spread throughout Europe. He travelled a lot to Italy to study more about their arts. He also went to Flanders and Netherlands and learnt much more about the arts of the time. He was one of the artists who had a very imaginative mind of which he expresses in his engravings.

Spanish painters’ art was depended upon the two traditions of Northern Europe and Italy and they imported a lot of painters and sculptors from these countries for the decorative work. Titian was a leading painter of the Spanish Court during the 16th Century even though he was not in Spain at the time. Spanish architecture marks a new style due to the lack of ornamentation in their building although they followed the Italian High Renaissance style. However, they only built a Renaissance building during the Late Renaissance.

Hence a few countries, such as Northern Europe, England, Germany and the Low Lands were slow to accept the Renaissance “news”, due to the Italian artists who travelled frequently within the European countries and also because of their influence, these countries gradually accepted the changes of the Renaissance “news”. Some of these artists are Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer, Rosso Fiorentino, Titian and Raphael.

Lighting

Lighting in Interiors – Lighting plays a huge role in Interiors and our daily lives. Just like we need water, air and food to survive, we need light to function efficiently.

So I’m going to explain about the importance of light, both natural and artificial. I’ll explain the different types of lighting, light sources, distribution and light fittings.

Natural Lighting – is the light from daylight where the main source for this is the sun. It enhances the spatial character of a room showing detail into relief drawing the eye to warm sunny spots and shrouding corners in cool shadows by its different types of lighting. Natural lighting always changes at different times of the day and different seasons of the year giving variations of tones, intensity and color. The different types of this kind of lighting is the ways that it can be used:

a. Direct Light– when light is of plentiful and comes directly through a glass window,

b. Diffused Light – when light is filtered and limited on entering and comes through blinds, shears or films creating dappled patterns in the room,

c. Reflected Light – is when light would bounce of other surfaces such as mirrors and reflective glass.

The natural light in a home makes the home a more lively place bringing nature close to home and makes people feel comfortable, healthy and happy.

Artificial Lighting -  is any source of light that is not natural. It is a practical means of illuminating a room uniformly and it is in no way a substitution of daylight, although with modern lighting systems, sources and fittings, it is possible to filter, direct and modulate light to provide essential contrast and variety. There are various types of artificial lighting and the 5 main types are:

a. General or Background – when the whole room is illuminated with a single light or chandelier at the centre of the room,

b. Ambient Lighting – provides light to cover across the room as a whole,

c. Work or Task Light – is used to read or work with,

d. Accent Light – is used to highlight certain aspects in the room that needs attention being drawn to,  such as plants, flowers, arts and sculptures or anything at all, 

e. Occasional and Kinetic Lighting – is when accessory lights are used to create a certain atmosphere in the room and kinetic light is the most romantic form of lighting, lit by candles, oil lamps and firelight/places.

Artificial lighting is used to create various atmospheres in a room and requires certain fixtures to provide soft, relaxing, general light. Some of the different fixtures in lighting are:

1. Ceiling Mounted Lights
              i.  Low-voltage track fittings
              ii. Strip light

2. Suspended or Pendant Lights

3. Wall Lights
              i.  Wall up-light
              ii.  Wall light

4. Ceiling Recessed Lights
              i. Recessed down-light
              ii. Eyeball down-light
              iii. Semi-recessed down-light

5. Portable Lighting
              i. Table lamps
              ii. Stand lamps
              iii. Spotlight with clamp-on fitting
              iv. Picture Light

Quality of light is another main role in creating the different atmospheres in a room and the different types of bulbs vary in creating the quality and effect on how the room will seem. Choosing the right lighting for the interior is very critical as some lighting may change colors of curtain fabrics, upholstery and wall finishes.

The different types of bulbs include 3 main types:

1. Tungsten -  the most commonly used domestic bulb generally with screw-in or bayonet attachments. It has a filament that glows a warm yellow color and its intensity depends on the wattage. The bulb has a shorter life span and is more expensive than fluorescent tubes but they emit very good quality of light. They are mostly used with table lamps and hanging fixtures.

2. Halogen – is a much clearer and whiter light than the tungsten and has the least perceptible effect on color. It is a combination of halogen gas and a tungsten filament. Low voltage halogen fittings were originally designed for commercial use and can be recessed or mounted on tracks in a domestic context but should be used with care.

3. Fluorescent – have a long life, low energy use and a tubular shape. They are  less costly and mainly used in a boxed housing that diffuses light over a large area but they create a very unpleasant artificial green tinge. They are viewed unhealthy and their main use is in for industrial and commercial purposes.

And this brings to the end of my explanation on lighting and its role in interiors. On a final note, artificial and natural lighting are both important in interiors because the aspects of the interior at different times of the day regulates under both of these, where at daytime natural light plays the role and at night time artificial lighting would play the role. The importance of light depends on how, where and when it is used.

Eco – Friendly Environment

Built, Natural and Earth.

I was inspired by the colors of my own blog site to write an article on the most common topic these days in the built environment. Everyone talks about how any project that is proposed will help in keeping the environment safe, about being eco friendly, about using sustainable materials and a lot more.

Being Green is easy in our day to day lifestyle. But how do we and how can we help in being green in architecture. Being Eco friendly in architecture is being in harmony with nature by taking measurements on ecological grounds such as concerns with location, site and orientation.

In the built environment, going green should begin by been environmentally conscious in design techniques, styles and by saving energy at each phase of construction from the beginning of extraction to transportation of goods, usage of sustainable products, to the process of assembling and finally the ease of recycling and reusing at the end of the building life. Saving energy can be implemented in the maintenance of a building and its uses too, such as lighting, heating, cooling and many more. This can be done by increasing the ability of a building to generate its own energy.

Today technology plays a huge role in helping us to maintain or provide an eco friendly environment. The various types of technologies that have risen in the built environment are inexplicable but significant savings can be achieved by passive energy systems such as natural ventilation and winter solar heat gain.

Renewable energy is created from natural resources such as sunlight for solar energy, wind for wind power, water for hydro power and more. Other common ways of creating renewable energy is by recycling and reusing.

The development of Eco-Architecture is rising because natural resources are becoming extinct especially fossil fuels and also because nature has to be kept balanced and preserved. Eco-Architecture is helping in providing creative solutions instead of using mechanical systems that are problems of discomfort to nature.

Green Architecture generally uses sustainable materials such as wood, tiles and brick that are either second hand, recycled or found nearby. When new materials are used, the main focus is on materials that can be reproduced and harvested with minimum impact on the environment. In structures, saving or reducing energy can be optimized by using insulated door, windows and walls. Big, open windows can increase natural light and air to the space. Outdoors, using packed gravel on driveway and parking lots instead of concrete can replenish on water resources. These are a few examples on sustainable materials that maybe used in Eco-Architecture.

There are many eco-friendly architectural structures around the world. For example: In Sri Lanka the Kandalama Hotel design by Architect Geoffrey Bawa has won many awards for been the most eco-friendly hotel in the world. The upcoming Dynamic Rotating Tower in Dubai designed by Dr. David Fischer will generate its own power because it will have wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor making it a true green power plant.

Technorati Tags: Kandalama,Sri Lanka & Dynamic Rotating Tower,Dubai

In conclusion, Eco-Architecture or being Green helps in making better use for resources such as water and energy. It helps in causing minimal impact on the environment, helps focus on renewable energy and promotes natural air circulation and use of natural light. And finally it helps to create a better environment for man on earth, for us!

Welcome

Hi everyone...

Welcome to my blog spot! My journey through my world of design, architecture and creativity.

I've been studying and working in Interior Design over the last few years in Bahrain and Ireland and now I'm back in uni for my second dose of Architecture in Malaysia. Yup, I'm creative, I first studied the decorative interesting side of the interior of structures and now I'm studying to actually design a building for real.

So as the design and learning process goes on, I will keep designing and updating on the latest of the design and creativity world.

Till next time...
Cheers.