Floornature

Tyrol, Ötztal Alps: a successful blendof ecology, design and skiing holidays. Hi-tech installations, charming hotels and breathtaking views guarantee a healthy holiday, combining nature with creativity and the ability to design eclectic contemporary structures with carefully chosen materials and renewable energy sources.

The first stop is Hochoetz, home of the “slow winter”. We become eskimos for a day and spend a night in a snow village, in a real igloo 2000 metres above sea level. An architectural masterpiece made entirely out of ice and snow, built in 4 weeks, consisting of 6 igloos for up to 4 people, 8 suites for couples and a lounge. The interiors reveal a magical world, and guests can take a walk by night or experience one of Europe’s highest saunas before going to bed.

After this deep white experience, our next stop is Solden. We stop at Central Spa Hotel Solden, featuring Italian-style luxury and hospitality, including the food. The hotel’s strong point is its large spa in minimal style offering shamanic cures, along with a wellness area on 3 levels. And then off we go to enjoy 151 km of ski trails, and above all the BIG 3- Rally trail, where design meets ice and sky. This 50 km itinerary may be travelled in a single day, with a 10,000 metre difference in elevation. Ski lifts take visitors to three peaks, each with its own futuristic panoramic platform of steel and glass. The design is by Bavarian architect Peter Schmuch.
The construction 120 metres above the station on Mount Schwarze Schneid is a tiny masterpiece of architecture, while the big round platform at the top of the Gaislachkogl offers breathtaking views on the outside and a local gastronomic experience on the inside, with the surprising touch of fresh oysters and champagne at 3000 metres above sea level. Taking a walk on the metal platform suspended from two steel cables projecting almost 25 metres out from Tiefenbachkogl station is an amazing experience. And as for the future, Johann Obermoser’s studio in Innsbruck has designed a cable car due to go into operation in the winter of 2010/2011 on Gaislachkogl.
The station at the bottom will feature a gigantic steel skeleton incorporating all of its central part, a futuristic construction wrapped in a clear sheet of plastic.

From Solden we go on to Obergurgl-Hochgurgl. The Crystal Hotel’s minimal cubic architecture offers close contact with the nature around it, combining natural materials such as stone, iron and wood. The hotel’s surplus is zero impact luxury in the Alps: it is a true eco design hotel using geothermal and solar energy, saving 90,000 litres of diesel during the winter. The hotel’s pride and joy is a Wellness Spa measuring more than 2000 square metres with a Private Suite Spa featuring three pools overlooking the glaciers, saunas, a fitness centre and a lounge with an open fireplace.
From the Crystal Hotel visitors set out on their skis to the 3082 m Wurmkogel, where Top Mountain Star stands out with its dramatic linear architecture. Up on a narrow crest is a 120 square metre round platform surrounded by a single continuous glass wall. The structure is covered with a glass dome and steel supports, and in the bar, a simple, minimal construction made entirely out of metal, glass and wood, visitors can enjoy a “Kaiserschmarren”: the emperor’s omelette, sprinkled with icing sugar and served with lingonberry jam.

Last stop: the most innovative spa in the Alps.
The Langenfeld Aqua Dome is a designer hotel surrounded by sulphurous waters in which crystal-shaped structures rise, clear walls, huge pools overflowing with water inside and outside, all surrounded by wood, glass and the colours and effects of water. The spa is spectacular, as is the Spacecurl: a technical instrument developed by Nasa to provide therapy and three-dimensional muscle training. In this hotel everything is inspired by space: from the smallest 35 m²room to the pools of sulphurous water 16 metres in diameter, all in a 50 thousand square metre area with a view of the 250 snowy peaks of the magical Ötztal.

Cintya Concari