heatherwick studio: 2012 london olympics cauldron
2012 london olympics cauldron designed by thomas heatherwick lighting rehearsal – starting point from which the torch bearers ignite the cauldron image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
the highly anticipated 2012 olympics cauldron designed by thomas heatherwick was finally revealed at yesterday’s opening ceremony. the dandelion-like design, is composed from 204 petals (each representing a competing nation), which are attached to levered stems that pump natural gas to each petal. the stems gently rise from the ground upwards and converge to form ‘one great flame of unity’ – representative of the transitory togetherness that is embodied in the olympic games.
the london 2012 olympic cauldron being lit
video via
2012 london olympics cauldron – lighting rehearsal – stems which pump natural gas to the petals rising upward
image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
2012 london olympics cauldron – lighting rehearsal – the flaming petals converge to form one united flame image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
2012 london olympics cauldron – by thomas heatherwick image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
heatherwick’s cauldron will be moved within the stadium to where the opening ceremony bell was, a reference to the position of the cauldron at the 1948 london games. at the end of the games, each team will take their petal home and the london 2012 cauldron will cease to exist.
2012 london olympics cauldron – each of the 204 copper petals represents one of the competing nations image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
2012 london olympics cauldron – each of the 204 copper petals are inscribed with the name of the country and ‘the XXX olympiad – london 2012” image: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
2012 london olympics cauldron – the mechanism which lifts the stemsimage: LOCOG / olympic opening ceremony tumblr
‘we were aware cauldrons had been getting bigger, higher, fatter as each olympics happened and we felt we shouldn’t try to be even bigger than the last ones. this incredible event has 204 nations coming together, so we had a child from each country bringing these copper polished objects in. at the end of the games, this cauldron will dismantle itself and radiate back down to the ground and each of those copper pieces take away by each nation and put in their national olympic cabinet.’ – thomas heatherwick
floor plan / level 0 image © heatherwick studio
elevation image © heatherwick studio
thomas heatherwick image © rosie hallam
olympic cauldrons of years past top row: 1976 (montreal, canada); 2010 (vancouver, canada); 2004 (athens, greece) bottom: 2002 (salt lake city, USA); 2000 (sydney, australia); 1992 (barcelona, spain)
‘thomas heatherwick: making‘ by thomas heatherwick is published by thames & hudson on 28 may 2012, £38.00 plc ‘heatherwick studio: designing the extraordinary’, sponsored by ernst & young, will be at the V&A from 31 may – 30 september 2012
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spectacular. but how are they going to move it from the middle of the field before it is struck from a javelin?
@andrea : heatherwick’s cauldron will be moved within the stadium to where the opening ceremony bell
was, a reference to the position of the cauldron at the 1948 london games. at the end of the games,
each team will take their petal home and the london 2012 cauldron will cease to exist.
Tout simplement magnifique !
I really want to know what the material it is,how could such long stick stay straight,when putting flat.
Maybe its a lil selfish but its a shame that the nations will take their petal home. This means the Britains who desperately wanted to watch the games as spectators and didn’t get ceremony tickets will never get to see it in person.