Chill out in an ice bar this summer in Shanghai
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
Designer Mark Armstrong cuts a 40-ton ice block yesterday in the Absolute Icebar to make furniture to be used in the bar. The ice block was transported from northern Sweden.
Shanghai residents will soon have a new way to cool down this summer – visiting an icebar.
A 40-ton ice crystal has been transported to Shanghai from the Torne River in northern Sweden. Workers will carve out all the interior fittings, furniture and artworks from the giant block, according to Absolut Icebar (Shanghai).
A team of Icebar designers under the leadership of Mark Armstrong have also arrived in Shanghai and will work on the ice before it opens in downtown Huaihai Road M. late next month.
Shanghai Daily reporters visited their chilly workplace yesterday and experienced the cold of the Arctic.
Wearing thick uniforms, designers were sculpting the ice blocks. “Here we will make them into walls, stools and glasses that hold your drink,” said Armstrong.
He said the bar will use an “arctic wilderness” theme to show people the extreme contrast to the Shanghai summer. “We want to make it more than simply a bar made of ice, but rather something that invites visitors to interact with the ice and experience the arctic landscape,” said the designer.
