French designers Les Ateliers de Germaine have designed a suite for the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, that features blocks of ice shaped like the rooftops and chimney pots of Paris.
The Icehotel is the largest hotel in the world built from snow and ice, and is located 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Each year, the hotel invites various artists to create different themed-rooms, and the Paris suite is the 24th edition.
The designers envisioned the suite as “a postcard from France” and based the design on Montmartre, one of the most famous areas in Paris. A carved outline of the Sacré-Cœur basilica rests at one end, surrounded by rooftops with illuminated dormer windows and chimney pots.
Luc Voisin, one half of the team, explained “Paris seemed to be the best example of a French city known all over the world. We thought about the way Paris is showed in cinema and literature. Because everything is a bit crooked in the room it looks like cartoon scenery.”
The extreme weather conditions made creating the sculptures challenging, as it affected the texture of the snow and ice. Voisin said, “From one day to another you might have to adjust your gesture if it is ten degrees less. If it is warmer, the snow is wet and sticky, if it is very cold, the ice cracks and is very fragile.”
View more photos of the enchanting suite below.
[via Dezeen, images via Les Ateliers de Germaine]