As part of the Barents Spektakel festival in Kirkenes, Finnish architect Sami Rintala decided to have a ritual burning of the landmark he built only seven years ago.
“Fire is natural, even the oldest forest must burn down in order for new things to grow”, Rintala said as an explanation to why he wanted to burn his own creation. Photo: Trude Pettersen.
The hotel laid claim to being the smallest hotel in the world. It had two bedrooms and no electricity or running water. The 28 square meters and minimalistic hotel has received a lot of attention. The Hotel was nominated in the category “Architecture” by the Forum AID Award 2007 (Best Nordic architecture, interior design and product design).
The small building was during its existence never given a proper place to stand in Kirkenes and was moved around several times. This had damaged the construction so much that it had become impossible to repair it.
The only thing the guests could see from the bedroom windows was the Barents Sea. Photo: Pikene på Broen.
Pikene på Broen invited Finnish architect and artist Sami Rintala to make an artwork for the Barents Art Triennial in 2005. Sami decided that it would be more appropriate to commission something useful. The building was constructed in only ten days.
The burning took less than an hour.
