Made from a golden aluminium alloy, the triangular torch will be perforated by circular holes representing the torch-bearers to take part in the Olympic relay and allowing glimpses of the burner system inside. More about the London Olympics on Dezeen ». The winning design connects the London Olympic Torch Relay to each of the 8, Torchbearers and their community. The design, engineering and manufacture of the Torch celebrates the best of British talent, with designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby working in partnership with Basildon based product engineers Tecosim and Coventry based manufacturers The Premier Group.
Together they have developed the prototypes on show today and the processes for the mass production of the Torches that will start later this year. Members of the public right across the UK are busy nominating inspiring people to be Torchbearers and I am thrilled we have a beautifully designed, engineered and crafted Torch for them to carry.
Nominate your Torchbearer at www. There will be further opportunities to get involved via the Presenting Partner programmes that launch in June As designers, this is quite simply the best project going: to design an icon for the Games. We wanted to make the most of pioneering production technologies and to demonstrate the industrial excellence available in the UK — it's a Torch for our time. Attentions at the firm - split across two floors in a low-key Shoreditch building - turned last September to what they call a "once in a lifetime project, a chance to represent our country in design terms".
Taking a functional eye to something that is also ceremonial. As they unwrap the latest torch to join the sequence created for each Olympiad since , they say they "both" designed it - a believable statement from a pair that finish each other's sentences in the mould of a classic working partnership. Eight thousand torches will be made - one for each bearer. London Olympics organisers Locog are tight-lipped about whether people will have to buy or be given the torches, and on the cost of the torch design and manufacture.
The torch is a light one - g including the prototype fuel canister - and it is tall, at 80cm. Barber and Osgerby were mindful of the year old carriers who will make up half of the bearers and the need to see smaller participants. And what to make of the slightly 'bling' colour, unexpected from a company usually producing white and muted tones?
They also wanted to try to come up with something using the latest production techniques. Their initial attempts to weather-test a home-made torch of fused plumbers' pipe, topped off with an Ikea cutlery drainer, using the office fan and a watering can, belie the technology involved here. They took the torch from foam and paper mock-ups, through printed 3-D plastic models to punctured sheets of an aluminium alloy manufactured by Coventry firm, Premier Group.
Eight thousand torches with 8, holes means 64,, holes to punch and the need for a machine that can bang out 16 holes a second. Beyond that, the unique design for a particular host city is left up to the organizing committee. Typical torches range from 15 to 32 inches in length.
Past materials span a wide range — aluminum has been a popular choice in recent years, but various kinds of natural wood, other metals, glass, and resins have comprised torches. Design teams submit a portfolio of ideas to the committee, which then selects a smaller group of finalists.
The final teams are asked to come back after a short period of time with a plan for obtaining the required materials and manufacturing the proposed design, according to Jay Osgerby, co-founder of the design studio Barber Osgerby, which was behind the London torch. Each torch is designed with the host country in mind. In the case of the Tokyo torch , designer Tokujin Yoshioka was inspired by the traditional flower of Japan, which is the cherry blossom.
Yoshioka also shaped the torch out of aluminum recycled from the temporary housing constructed in the wake of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in , according to the Tokyo organizing committee. Approximately 30 percent of each individual torch contains this recycled aluminum. Each torch also featured 8, perforations to represent the 8, torchbearers and the 8, miles of the relay route from Greece and then throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The torch for the Salt Lake City winter games incorporated an aged metal finish to signify the American West and copper to represent the history of Utah. After the initial concept was finalized, the torch was handed off to a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology for 3D modeling and prototype development.
Tim Purdy, senior lecturer of industrial design, led the modeling team. Prototypes were as far as 3D printing could take the torch. Even in , for London, large-scale 3D printing of the torch was considered, but was dropped in favor of more reliable metal welding and laser perforation.
Equally important as the outer design of the torch is the inner workings of the fuel canister system that feeds the flame visible at its top. In fact, according to Tecosim, the engineering firm that collaborated on the London torch with Barber Osgerby, the first metric for deciding which type of fuel and fuel system would be used was the size of the canister. The canister determines the amount of space available in the aesthetic design and the amount of fuel required to produce a yellow flame of at least 10 inches in height, with a burn duration of a minimum of 10 minutes.
After a fuel canister is selected, the next consideration is the kind of fuel that will be used.
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