A dome is a wonderfully adaptable shape. In this collection, it appears in coloured ice, snow, reused containers and a transparent tent. The shared outline creates a family resemblance, but the materials tell very different stories.
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Photo: Imgur
Look at the building blocks
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Photo: Flickr/Romain Cloff
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Photo: Imgur
The coloured ice dome makes light part of its appearance. The snow structures are more opaque, with entrances and connecting forms standing out against the surrounding white. In the container dome, you can still recognise the individual objects that make up the wall.
That is a rewarding way to browse design photographs: first notice the overall shape, then move closer and work out what gives the surface its texture. A curve assembled from repeated objects looks different from one shaped into a continuous snowy wall.
Similar silhouettes, different purposes
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Photo: Flickr/Susanne Nilsson
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Photo: Boutique Homes
Susanne Nilsson’s photograph of the cooler dome keeps its bright components clearly visible. The transparent tent does almost the reverse, reducing the visual barrier between the enclosed space and its surroundings.
It would be misleading to call every example an igloo or to assume that a photograph establishes warmth, weather resistance or suitability for an overnight stay. Some images document playful installations; others show shelters or products. Their shared shape does not establish shared performance.
For a walk-through attraction made from ice, explore the New Hampshire Ice Castles archive. For a compact building whose material tells a more surprising story, see Refugi Lieptgas in Switzerland.
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Thirteen designs linked by a rounded shelter form
The collection uses “igloo” loosely. Its first example is built from coloured ice blocks, while Ralf Schmerberg’s refrigerator construction and the book-built form are art objects made from very different materials. The black geometric shelter with a planted roof, Castle Grayskull-inspired snow structure and Finnish interconnected forms extend the idea in still other directions.
The roofless enclosure around a hot tub changes the relationship again: it suggests an outdoor room rather than a closed sleeping shelter. Milk containers demonstrate another reused-material approach, while the remaining snowy settings, cooler-themed form, fabric tents and dining scene show how a dome-like silhouette can be adapted for different purposes.
These distinctions make the full thirteen-image sequence useful. A photograph of a tent cannot establish its insulation or waterproofness, and an artwork made from appliances is not a traditional snow house. The shared appeal is the enclosing shape and the inventiveness of its reinterpretations. Compare materials, openings and intended use rather than treating every object as an interchangeable winter accommodation.
Compare the openings as well as the outline. A doorway, an open roof and transparent walls create different relationships with weather, light and privacy, even when the shelters share a rounded silhouette.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Imgur
- Seedorama
- Imgur
- Imgur
- Carbon-Fibre
- Flickr/Romain Cloff
- Imgur
- Imgur
- Be Sportier
- Flickr/Susanne Nilsson
- Boutique Homes
- Daily Dawdle
- Viral Nova
- Glass Igloos with Magnificent Northern Lights Views in Finland
- This Is Either Awesome Or A 15 Foot Death Trap. Either Way, I Want It In My Backyard.
- So There’s An Igloo Village In The Mountains Of Europe. And It’s So Much Better Than You Think
- Romain Cloff
- Susanne Nilsson
- New Hampshire Ice Castles archive
- Refugi Lieptgas in Switzerland
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