Coolest job in the world

Feeling hot? Then you might not warm up to English architect Mark Armstrong, who works with ice all year long

Feeling hot? Then you might not warm up to English architect Mark Armstrong, who works with ice all year long

The heat here won't beat it and there are folks who just about never feel it. Meet Mark Armstrong. An English architect who has created 9 ICEHOTELS in Sweden and 8 Absolut ICEBARS across the globe, he lives in Jukkasjarvi, a sleepy little village that's 200 km north from the Arctic Circle, and has been home to him for 10 years now. He lives in a Swedish wood cabin, that's 800 metres from the hotel.

By the end of November each year, Jukkasjarvi that incidentally means "meeting place" a 500-people strong hamlet sees an influx of people. Roughly 15 design artists from all over the world, selected through an application process, gather and meet the frozen Torne River. Incidentally, it is the only source for creating Absolut ICEBARS, world over. These are bars created with ice in some of the colder cities of the world or maintained frozen, at a great expense, at the not-so-cold ones.

Ice from the Arctic Circle is used in all Absolut ICEBARS to allow tourists to experience authenticity. For example, tonnes of ice were used to build and decorate the one created in Tokyo and it's replenished every season. At this point, we're wondering, hamara number kab ayega (when will Mumbai have one)?

As one of the architects responsible for creating Absolut ICEBARS, Mark travels to these locations twice a year to change the ice, and consequently the design too. But, all the designing is done beforehand. The structures are then transported and it's the construction that takes 4-5 days.

While our summer vacations are ordinary affairs by the sea with sun above us that make for family picture moments, his work means surreal structures that become subjects for architecture design stories.

He describes the ice hotel as a "fantasy world for dreams" and the dream-like creations really are solid proof of his words. From beds and furniture, stunning artwork, themed suites, Absolut ICEBAR and reception area to the church and other aspects of the hotel, every part of the hotel is designed and made from nothing but pure snice a combination of snow and ice from the river without any help from external materials.

Mark appreciates the rarity of the material he works with. He says, "Everyone works with brick and mortar or wood but ice is so different. Especially here, the ice is unlike any other place!" Considering what he and the designers do with something most people shudder at, his fascination is understandable. It's almost a childlike love for creating and rebuilding, much like building blocks.

The novelty apart, there are some fatal risks that come with his job. He tells us of the first time he came to work at the ice hotel, and saw his Japanese friend almost being crushed to death under the weight of crushed snice. He says, "It's risky. There's a lot of equipment and heavy machinery. But it's this rush of creating that keeps me going." Cracking apart, he says the one thing everyone on the team dreads is temperatures above zero degrees Celsius. Imagine hours of unending work simply melting away. There are times when the hotel needs mending too.

If by now, you aren't envious there are other pluses (apart from temperatures that is) that come with his work. Each year, he meets people from all over the world. When he's not working with snow, he travels to meet the friends he makes. So while the world celebrates a warm Christmas in Australia, up north, he says it's a very white one where the temperatures drop to -30 degrees. We wonder if he has Monday morning blues, literally!

He laughs and says, "No, I'm used to it now. Mondays are slow. When we're working on the hotel, we party on the weekend." Really, partying near the Arctic Circle? "The closest club is in Kiruna, the closest city to the village. Having fun here mostly comprises cooking, drinking wine and sharing stories with new friend, obviously inside the warmth of a home," he says.

ICEHOTELS are destinations that almost every curious traveller wants to explore. So, while most regular architects would lament the collapse of their creations, Mark is upbeat and revels in the fact that each year offers them a clean sheet of paper to draw on. So how do they prepare? He jokes and says, "We all do a special dance and pray for minus temperatures."

But on a more serious note, the designing is done by the artistic director Arne Bergh and a team of architects. The river freezes by October. By mid-November, snow guns spray snice on metal frames that are left to become solidify. After a few days, what remains are snow corridors, which form the skeletal structure for the hotel. In four to six weeks, the main areas such as suites, reception, and church among other areas are built and soon the first guests arrive. By January, the hotel is finished. Open for guests till March, it takes a little over a month for the hotel to melt away and become part of the river again.

As the hotel flows away, Mark makes his way to Holland for five weeks. And if not building houses, he's seen riding a motorcycle or fishing. He returns to Jukkasjarvi after three months. After a decade of creating hotels and then letting nature take its course, he's hooked. What with global warming making headlines everywhere, he's making the best of ice. Meanwhile, we're feeling the heat.