Mario von Rickenbach

Unfreeze "Regina", the abandoned grand hotel in the swiss mountains.

The old Grand Hotel Regina in the center of Grindelwald, Switzerland is abandoned and gutted since several years, having seen better times in the 20th century. Set amidst the beautiful alpine landscape at the foot of the Eiger, the hotel is closed for good and frozen in time.

Unfreeze Regina invites the visitors to unfreeze the hotel by checking in to the hotel with their mobile phones, by scanning a QR code. Each guest is given one of the rooms seen from the big square in front, where their presence melts the ice slowly growing on the façade of the massive building. A light switch gives the guests a possibility to interact with the ice and each other. The ice is generated procedurally based on a simulation of dendritic growth.

Presented at Light Art Grindelwald 2021.