Come wintertime there's no shortage of ice artisans parading their carving prowess, slinging their knives and chisels and rebuilding the world in icy famed architecture in front of the eyes of God and country. The best of the best get a slot at Sweden's Icehotel, where frozen H20 gets shaped into theme suites—remember last years' UFO room?—featuring ice beds, chairs, and some crazy-elaborate headboards. The bell of the ball this year? The room by Luc Voisin and Mathiew Brison of Paris-based Les Ateliers de Germaine, which features an icy rendition of Paris' Montmarte neighborhood.
Inside this "postcard from France," as artists called it, is a headboard whittled to resemble the architecture of the area, with gabled roofs, chimneys, and out-set paned windows. On the other side of the room (↓), Voisin and Brison carved a cityscape silhouette, crowned by the neighborhood's Sacré-Cœur basilica. It's all just a slice of what Icehotel, which sits 124 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has to offer. The hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, is all about the artistry of the frozen form, and in fact combs through around 250 applications every year from designers, artists, and architects who want to create one of the hotel's theme suites.
· Six of the Coolest (Sorry) Ice and Snow Buildings on Earth [Curbed National]
· All Icehotel coverage [Curbed National]
· Parisian Cityscape Carved in Ice for One of a Kind Hotel Room [My Modern Met]