Floating, underwater hotel, where you sleep in an underwater aquarium. The Utter Inn is the brainchild of Mikael Genberg, a local artist and sculptor who has chosen to focus on “making art for the public”. It lies 3m below the surface of Lake Mälaren in VästerÃ¥s, Sweden and contains only twin beds and a table. The Utter (Otter) Inn opened in June 2000 on the coldest, rainiest day in the whole summer. Despite that it was a great success. Not only did all the untested solutions work, it also attracted a lot of people. The Utter Inn stimulates the most typical of Swedish dreams; to have a small Swedish red house with white garbles on your own island. On top of that you can spend your night three meters underwater with panoramic windows in all directions.
This alternative dwelling also includes a sense of risk taking and adventure that tends to expand the sensory input. One should not forget the psychological term “transfer of exaltation”. Roughly explained it is about man’s tendency to transform the experience of fear to an experience of love. You don’t want to feel afraid so the brain changes the emotion to something far more pleasant. You feel more alive. In this sense arranged, controlled fear can be very important.
