In pictures: London 2012 Olympic cauldron by Thomas Heatherwick
Closely guarded design steals the show at Olympics opening ceremony
More than 200 copper petals were carried into the stadium by mascots for each country competing in the 2012 Olympics - each one inscribed with the name of the country and the words ‘XXX Olympiad London 2012’. The petals were attached to long stems to form a circle of flames, ignited in a lighting ceremony led by seven promising young British athletes nominated by some of Britain’s leading sportsmen and women. The petals then rose and united to create a single flame suspended above the stadium.
The cauldron will be moved to a prominent place within the stadium where it will be within eyesight of athletes during events.
At the end of the games, each competing country will take home their petal and the cauldron will cease to exist. “It’s a temporary representation of the extraordinary transitory community that is the Olympic Games,” said an Olympics spokesperson.
An exhibit about the Olympic cauldron will be added to the current Heatherwick Studio show at the V&A today (Saturday)
What did you think of Heatherwick’s cauldron - was it worth the wait? Let us know in the comments below. If you have any images to add to this gallery email them to bdonline@ubm.com
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Readers' comments (14)
no pun intended but the mans on fire....excellent stuff.
Lovely, evocative extension of the botanical transience and symbolism of the Seed Cathedral for Shanghai Expo - a natural corollary, post-Beijing. Allusions to the Greek mysteries, Olympia ceremonies, the first metal that humanity forged (our inaugural industrial revolution), and phyllotaxis also lead me to our new geometric sustainable design law of nature - the Asynsis principle-Constructal law: how design evolves optimally, analogically - from entropy: http://asynsis.worpress.com
It was Adolf Hitler who first introduced the idea of an eternally burning flame, for the 1938 Olympics. I'm surprised anyone thinks it's wonderful to see the spirit of Nazism still burning bright.
Stunning, exciting, built as a kit, beautiful and British. As memorable as the Beijing Birdsnest.
Interesting, insightful comment there nigel. For me as an uninformed onlooker, i just felt it was an instinctively beautiful creation. The way those flaming pods rose into the air was lyrical, the result an elegant chariot of fire. I know its popular to knock Heatherwick in the architecture world, but just step outside that world, and that of relentless cynical comments which eat themselves, and for a peaceful moment show some heart to the guy for crafting such a stunning piece of art. Im so proud.
Sceptical: the histories of the flame/fire and the torch are more complicated and interesting than you suggest.
From Wikipedia:
"The Olympic Flame is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, and it has been part of the modern Olympic Games ever since. In contrast to the Olympic flame proper, the torch relay of modern times which transports the flame from Greece to the various designated sites of the games had no ancient precedent and was introduced by Carl Diem at the controversial 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin."
I and my German correspondent thought Heatherwick's fire had been cleverly decontaminated and was very beautiful.
It is possible without mentioning Hitler to suggest that it would have graced any production of Parsifal.
On a simpler level than Nigel's, I thought the symbolism was magnificent - that the olympics are nothing without of the contributions from all the countries taking part.
Heatherwick.
A really good name.
Period.
Good job on this one I think, better than many Architects could do and what on earth is Nigel blabbering on about, talk English man.
I thought this is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Well done Thomas Heatherwick and team! I think we need people like this in the Architectural world to remind us how beautiful and thoughtful design can be and to keep us on our toes. Well Done!