EL wire, or electroluminescent wire, is an energy efficient lighting technology used for a wide variety of applications. An EL wire is composed of a copper wire coated in a phosphor that glows when an alternating current is applied to it. The energy efficient technology allows just a few hundred feet of EL wire to be driven by AA batteries for several hours.

Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas–Jones, a designer and an architect by training, joined forces to work on this project as well an illuminated furniture line to be released next year. The duo were asked to create a TRON-inspired art suite for the Icehotel this winter using the EL wire to provide a futuristic lighting scheme. They had 13 days to build out the interior of the hotel room suite, install the lighting and polish and buff out the interior furnishings, which includes wall panels, a reindeer pelt covered bed and a table. Grooves for the EL wire were cut into ice slabs with a variety of tools and then the wire was laid into the grooves and water was used to create new ice to “glue” the wire into place.

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