Ephemeral Architecture – Hotel de Glace

Located in Quebec, Canada, the Hotel de Glace is painstakingly constructed using 500 tons of ice and 15,000 tons of snow.  Thirty construction professionals worked long hours to erect the basic framework, and then handed the finishing touches over to a team of 15 artists to carve the intricate decorations.

It has already opened for its 2012 season, even though construction will officially be completed on January 20^th.  It will remain open until March 25^th, at which point the local temperature will be high enough that the Hotel will close its doors.  There it will continue to stand into the late spring months until its ephemeral architecture slowly melts away.