Firm will create a 47,000 sq m ski resort and recreational area in Levi, Finland

BIG ski village in Levi, Finland

BIG ski village in Levi, Finland

Architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has won an invited competition to design a 47,000 sq m ski resort and recreational area in Levi, Finland.

The future ski village will transform the existing Levi ski resort into a world class destination, offering top-quality accommodation and leisure services for skiers of all levels.

BIG proposes to create four freestanding buildings whose ends touch the ground and offer access to the roof, so skiers can descend from the resort’s rooftop downhill in any direction.

The firm hopes the undulating roofs of the four buildings will allow continuity with the natural landscape, while lending the whole village the feel of an inhabited mountain top.

The resort will feature a plaza for ice skating and music events, as well as cafes, bars and a hotel with a rooftop restaurant.

Accommodation will include eight private villas with elevated gardens.

Bjarke Ingels, founder and partner at BIG, said: “The Koutalaki Ski Village is conceived as an extension of both the summit and the resort. Grown from the natural topography rather than dropped from the sky, the ar­chitecture extends the organic forms of natural landscape creating an inhabitable as well as skiable manmade mountain.”