One of the rooms at this year's Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, was designed by Pinpin Studio to look like the laboratory where Frankenstein's monster was brought into being (+ slideshow).
Christian Strömqvist and Karl-Johan Ekeroth of Pinpin Studio used nothing but ice and snow to create a room modelled on "the laboratory of a crazy scientist" for the twenty-fourth edition of the Icehotel, which is built afresh every year on a site 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.
Entitled It's Alive, the hotel suite contains the monster's bed, along with computer machinery, tesla coils and giant laboratory beakers.
"We thought that the story of Frankenstein's monster would be interesting to interpret in ice and snow," Strömqvist told Dezeen. "There is no monster or scientist in the room, so it's up to the visitors to decide what role they want to take. We just make the scenography."
The designers used huge blocks of ice from the nearby Torne River to build the furniture. Chainsaws and ice chisels were needed to mould the blocks into shape, while a mill was used to create surface patterns such as the details on the computer.
"The snow parts are made out of 'Snice', a more wet snow that becomes ice hard when it freezes," explained Strömqvist.
The walls are etched to create the impression of brickwork and a door, while a hatch in the ceiling was added to symbolise an opening where lightening can enter and wake the monster.
LED lighting animates the space without causing the ice to melt. There's also a button on the wall that activates a series of LED strobe lights.
"If you push the button, all other lights go off and the strobes create the effect of a big electric power blast," said the designer.
This is the third suite Strömqvist and Ekeroth have designed for the Icehotel, following one containing UFOs and one centred around a giant sea monster. Other past suites have included a bed surrounded by fins of ice and walls sculpted to resemble the upholstery of a Chesterfield sofa.
Here's some extra information from the designers:
It's Alive!
Christian Strömqvist and Karl-Johan Ekeroth from PINPIN Studio have just finished their third time in a row design venture at the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.
This year the duo has designed and built a Frankenstein-esque art suite titled It's Alive! They welcome you into the laboratory of a crazy scientist, complete with mysterious gadgets, huge tesla coils, a hatch in the ceiling and a bed where the monster can come alive. And it´s all made out of ice and snow!
In "It's Alive", PINPIN Studio wants to create an interactive art experience for the visitors. PINPIN Studio presents a visually exiting scenography and lets the visitors decide for themselves if they want to play the part of the monster or of the scientist. In this room, a quite scary story is turned into a humouristic and positive, yet thrilling, experience.
As in the duo's previous designs for the Icehotel, "It's Alive" is more than an art experience. Just like Dr Frankenstein created life from dead materials with the help of lightning, PINPIN Studio uses playfulness and creativity to transform the water from Torne River into an interactive and unique design and art experience.
This year in Swedish Lapland: It's Alive at the Icehotel!