Ice, Ice, Buildings

'Tis the season ... to check out all things snowy!
I've been trolling around the internets to see what people have accomplished using frozen water as a building material thus far -

I've checked out the Ice Hotels a few hundred times already as references for school projects;

there's one in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, for example:

and in Chena, Alaska:

and even Canadia:

It seems that most of the hotels/structures consider the building to be a plank slate, a clean palate, which is ripe for dressing up with colored lights.  While there's some play with opacity and translucence based on the texture of the ice, I would have expected it to be pumped up even more.  Nevertheless, they've gotta be amazing spaces to experience!

The Oslo Opera House

I was going through my sketchbook and realized I'd never scanned in the sketches I did of the Oslo Opera House way back in August ... So here goes ...

It was designed by a Norwegian firm called Snohetta in 2004. It's a very cool building. Actually I'm enamored of the shell more than the insides, which don't seem to correlate much. There's a Guggenheim thing happening on the interior - in wood - and a floaty, white marble-y thing happening on the exterior.

In all, it's a lovely place to wander around, and to then sit and drink coffee while sketching.

(All images & photos are my own)

Exterior:

The money shot

Actually, the approach isn't that lovely ...

View from the top

Interiors:

Inside looking out

Norway Foray

Two years ago I took a trip to Norway to do some amazing sight-seeing.

This year I get to go again, this time with the focus on meeting up with my Norwegian family.


So I'll be away from the 18th - 29th!


In my place, I leave a collection of some images from the last vacay ...

A sampling of cool Scandinavian design ...

This kids' playground was really awesome; the best part, though, was this station, where there's a free book-sharing system in place!

A bar ... made out of ice ... :)

Some cool graffiti in Bergen ...

And something only I find interesting; the different designs for manhole covers in every city!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I'll be sure to take zillions more pics on this trip (with possibly less emphasis on the surface beneath my feet).