Olympic CauldronA billion people tuning into the Olympics’ opening ceremony meant all eyes on the torch—or at least on the person carrying it. Heatherwick says nobody remembers the Olympic Cauldron. “People remember people, not objects.” So the London Olympics featured seven young athletes carrying copper cones of fire—”Gold, silver, and bronze were busy for those two weeks”—and touched the cauldron with their torches until the flames spread around in circles. Some 204 stems, each representing a country, rose together to form a single massive flame—truly more than the sum of its parts.

Photo by: Edmund Sumner Photo 9 of 9 in Heatherwick Studio at Design Indaba

Heatherwick Studio at Design Indaba

9 of 9

Olympic CauldronA billion people tuning into the Olympics’ opening ceremony meant all eyes on the torch—or at least on the person carrying it. Heatherwick says nobody remembers the Olympic Cauldron. “People remember people, not objects.” So the London Olympics featured seven young athletes carrying copper cones of fire—”Gold, silver, and bronze were busy for those two weeks”—and touched the cauldron with their torches until the flames spread around in circles. Some 204 stems, each representing a country, rose together to form a single massive flame—truly more than the sum of its parts.

Photo by: Edmund Sumner