8 WONDERS of the WORLD
007 Elements
It sits at 9,974 feet above sea level, inside the summit of Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden, Austria; a concrete hideaway that would be the envy of any Bond villain. Accessed via a high-speed cable car, 007 Elements by the Innsbruck-based architect Johann Obermoser is part museum, part interactive installation, and part mountaintop lair.
Inside you’ll encounter nine separate galleries designed to provide you with the 007 Elements ‘Experience’. Designed by Tino Schaedler at the creative agency Optimist Inc. And Neal Callow, the James Bond Art Director on the last four Bond films, each gallery showcases an ‘element’ that is characteristic of a Bond film in a homage to the Bond legacy through with a special emphasis on Spectre, the fourth film starring the current 007, Daniel Craig. As visitors progress through each gallery they are taken on a journey through the senses courtesy of a phalanx of lights, shadows, visual projections and disorientating soundscapes and perspectives that combine to deliver an immersive, theatrical experience. Every gallery is connected by ramps that take you in an imperceptibly downward direction, which has you exiting the mountain 30 feet below where you entered. On a mountaintop where cable cars continually bring in a fair amount of piste ski traffic, ramps are preferable to stairs.
To come here is to find yourself in a classic Bond-like landscape. Not only are you on an isolated, snow-covered European summit overlooking the Ötztal Alps, you’re also right next to the iCE-Q Restaurant, which doubled as the Hoffler Klinik in Spectre. Almost the entire museum is buried within the mountain with only its entry and exit, a small viewing area and two large panoramic windows projecting beyond its rocky exterior.
Concrete, steel and glass are used throughout, giving the interior an austere though very Bond-like appearance. Galleries are divided by
