Tag Archives: Sweden

A UFO Treehouse Hotel

A UFO Treehouse Hotel UFOs treehouses travel Sweden hotels architecture

Tucked away in a quiet forest near the Lule River in Harads, Sweden is Treehotel, a themed hotel park consisting of treehouses designed by some of Scandanavia’s leading architects that was just awarded the 2011 Swedish Grand Tourism Prize. There are currently 24 rooms planned, with six now available for booking. Some of them, including the Mirrorcube and the Birdsnest have made the rounds on blogs extensively the past few months, but I’m really enjoying the fine details of the UFO room. The sleek outer surface and lighting makes me giddily nostalgic for the days of E.T. and Flight of Navigator, and what’s not to like about planetary pillows and constellation comforters? A stay will run you about $600/night for two adults. (via ck/ck)

Clear Cut: A Mirrored Forest Installation

This summer artists Joakim Kaminsky and Maria Poll went deep inside the forests of Medelpad in northern Sweden to create this uncanny installation entitled Clear Cut using a mirror-coated fabric.

However eternal it may seem this is not a natural forest. Like 90% of the forests in Sweden it is used for forestry consequently being continuously grown and chopped down in a 60 years life cycle.

Joakim and Maria wanted to connect these trees to time. They wanted the installation to visualize a memory of earlier generations of pine trees that had stood here and forecast the clear cut that will soon replace them. Perhaps the mirrors could absorb the light, colors and smells of this place and save them for the future?

It really looks almost as if forest has been severed in half, the treetops hovering above the bottoms. See more of the installation here.

I found this on a new blog called Toildrops, which from glancing at just the home page could be a new favorite.

By Christopher on September 13, 2011 • installation mirrors nature Sweden trees

The world’s first Puckelball Pitch in Malmö, Sweden

The worlds first Puckelball Pitch in Malmö, Sweden Sweden sports playgrounds kids

Is Dr. Seuss still alive, hiding out in Sweden, working as an urban planner? Not quite. The puckelball pitch made of artificial turf is a design concept by artist Johan Strom, who created this field in Malmö, Sweden as a metaphor for life:

“Many live under the belief that life is a fair playing field, that both pitch halves are just as big and the goal always has at least one cross. But ultimately the ball never bounces exactly where you want it to and the pitch is both bumpy and uneven.”

The rolling landscape of the field is meant to inspire imaginative play and to encourage fair competition between skilled and unskilled players, young and old, boys and girls. It was nominated in the Making Space 2010 competition that gives prizes to the best architectural and designed spaces for children. Every city in the world should be lucky enough to have a field like this. (via playscapes)