Be part of the creation of ICEHOTEL 37 - International Design Competition Open
Create your dream art project at ICEHOTEL - the design competition is open
Every year, ICEHOTEL takes a new shape – created by creative minds from all over the world. Do you dream of designing an art suite made of ice and snow? Applications are now open for the international design competition for ICEHOTEL 37, with a deadline of April 11, 2026.
ICEHOTEL is more than a hotel. It is an ephemeral art project, built from snow and ice harvested from the Torne River, where each winter brings an entirely new design. What ideas, expressions, or unexpected details would you like to contribute? Thought-provoking, playful, innovative, or quietly beautiful – there are no predefined boundaries for how the art suites should look. The only requirements are that the design is your own, includes a bed, and - of course is created from ice and snow. Read more about the application process.
An Ever-Changing Art Project
ICEHOTEL is not only a hotel and art installation, but also a tribute to nature and the Torne River – one of Europe’s last untouched waterways. Here, art, craftsmanship, and nature meet in a unique context where artists are given the opportunity to create something truly extraordinary, and visitors step directly into a world shaped by ice and snow.
“It is always exciting to open the application process and welcome ideas that will create next winter’s ICEHOTEL. This year, we have also chosen to set the deadline to Saturday, April 11, the same day ICEHOTEL 36 closes. This creates a natural flow from one ICEHOTEL to the next. At the same time as we conclude one year’s work, we begin shaping the next,” says Luca Roncoroni, Creative Director at ICEHOTEL.
Over the years, a large number of award-winning designers and artists have been part of the project. Among them are the Swedish duo Bernadotte & Kylberg and the design duo Kauppi & Kauppi, both internationally acclaimed and recipients of multiple awards, including the Red Dot Award. In the creation of ICEHOTEL 36, 32 artists from 12 countries took part.
Ice Art on Nature’s Terms
The construction of ICEHOTEL is an international art symposium where the selected artists gather in Jukkasjärvi at the end of November for two intense weeks of creation. Ice and snow become their working materials, and each art suite is an original installation that exists for one winter – only to melt and return to nature when spring arrives.
“There is something truly special about knowing that next year’s ICEHOTEL is currently frozen in the river. I very much look forward to seeing this year’s applications and following how the ideas take shape here on site in Jukkasjärvi,” says Marie Herrey, CEO of ICEHOTEL.
Application and Selection Process
ICEHOTEL welcomes applications from all creative disciplines – not only from ice and snow sculptors. The selected entries are selected based on creativity, concept, innovation, feasibility, and the experience created for the hotel’s guests.
The artists are solely responsible for completing their own art suites, but can get help and support from ICEHOTEL’s experienced construction team, as well as a lighting team that, in close collaboration with the artists, develops a lighting plan for each art suite.
A jury from ICEHOTEL evaluates the applications and selects the artist teams that will be invited to participate in building ICEHOTEL 37, which opens on December 11, 2026.
Read more about the selection process and apply here.
Press Images and Further Information
For more information and interview requests, please contact: press@icehotel.com
Press Images and Information – application ICEHOTEL 37
Press contact:
Josefin Lindberg, Press & PR Manager ICEHOTEL
press@icehotel.com
Press images: Ceremony Hall Echo, Luc Voisin & Mathieu Brison, France, ICEHOTEL 36, Sweep Me Off My Feet, Elin Julin & Ida Mangsbo, Arctic Archive, Kristina Möckel & Sebastian Scheller, Germany. Photos Asaf Kliger.
ICEHOTEL 36 by the numbers
- 32 artists from 12 countries created the art in ICEHOTEL 36
- 12 Art Suites
- 1 Main Hall
- 1 Outdoor art project at the entrance
- 1 Decorative project
- 550 tons of ice used
- 10 Olympic swimming pools (32,700 m³) of snis, a mix of snow and ice
- 220 handcrafted ice crystals created the iconic chandeliers
- ICEHOTEL 36 temperature: -5°C
- 6 weeks of construction
- 89 people involved in building ICEHOTEL 36
- 257 artists from 36 countries submitted entries
- The building material of ICEHOTEL is just snow, and ice. The total ice used for the winter section equals ten seconds of Torne River flow.
- 30,000 m³ of snis (110 million ice lollies) used for floors, ceilings, and walls
- In March, the harvesting of the ice that will be the buidling material of ICEHOTEL 37, will take place in Torne River right outside ICEHOTEL.
- The winter hotel melts back into the Torne River in spring
Quick facts about ICEHOTEL
- 44 warm hotel rooms
- 28 warm cabins
- 18 year-round art and deluxe suites (-5°C)
- 36 winter-open art suites and ice rooms (-5°C)
- 1 accessible ice art suite (-5°C)
- 3 meeting rooms
- 1 ice ceremony hall in the winter hotel
- 1 cinema of ice and snow for 29 guests, open year-round
- 1 exhibition room of ice and snow
- 1 ICEBAR by ICEHOTEL Jukkasjärvi
- 1 ICEBAR by ICEHOTEL Copenhagen
- 3 restaurants
- 5 wilderness camps
About ICEHOTEL ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi opened in 1989 and is both a hotel and an art exhibition with ever-changing original ice and snow art. Each winter, ICEHOTEL is recreated entirely from ice harvested from the Torne River, one of Sweden’s national rivers and last untouched waterways. When the winter season melts, a part of the hotel remains open year-round as ICEHOTEL 365.
