Nov. 1, 2015
Production designer Dennis Gassner scoured mountain destinations worldwide, but when he came across the Tirolean glacial resort of Sölden, he knew he had found the perfect combination.
"Above all we had to deliver an amazing sequence and this is going to be one of the major action scenes of the movie, a jewel in the crown so to speak. It's going to be spectacular and Tirol seemed to offer everything that we needed to pull it off," Gassner said recently in an interview, and it's easy to see why. With its recent investment in infrastructure, Sölden's brand-new lift system had the perfect, futuristic image that the producers were looking for. The top station of the Gaislachkogel gondola, known for its unusual curved roof and striking black cars, is a fitting mode of transport to the lair of a Bond villain (and with its queue-beating design, it's an equally fitting way for keen skiers to get the pistes easily).
Also featured heavily in the movie is the stunning Ice-Q restaurant, an iconic glass structure jutting out from the mountain, which serves as the base of Austrian native Christoph Waltz's delightfully sinister antagonist. In reality, the Ice-Q is one of Sölden's finest restaurants, serving a gourmet range of regional and international dishes against a breathtaking Alpine backdrop, and as the 'Spectre' team realised, the architecture is guaranteed to impress all who visit.