2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron

2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron
The cauldron at the Tuileries Garden
ArtistMathieu Lehanneur [fr]
Year2024 (2024)
LocationParis, France
Coordinates48°51′46.4″N 2°19′45.5″E / 48.862889°N 2.329306°E / 48.862889; 2.329306

The 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron (French: Chaudron des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques d'été de 2024) was made for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. It was located at the Tuileries Garden.

Design

[edit]

The French Olympic Committee commissioned Mathieu Lehanneur (fr) (born 1974),[1][2] to design the cauldron, torch, and ceremonial cauldrons along the torch relay route: Lehanneur developed a concept of having these three items symbolise France's national motto, "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" ("Liberty, equality, fraternity"), and gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively.[3] Lehanneur described them as "three chapters in the same story", with the cauldron representing liberty, gold medals, and serving as "the epilogue and the ultimate symbol of that story. Light, magical and unifying."[4] The cauldron consists of a 7-metre (23-foot) diameter ring suspended from a 30-meter-tall (98 feet) helium-filled balloon. Its design was designed to pay homage to the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries[5][6] – in particular, France's historical contributions to balloon flight. In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers conducted the first human flight using a hot air balloon.[7][8]

For the first time, as part of goals to reduce carbon emissions, the cauldron did not contain an actual flame generated via combustion. Instead, the presence of the Olympic flame was simulated via an LED lighting system, consisting of 40 lamps illuminating a cloud of mist generated by 200 water jets. The system was developed in partnership with Électricité de France (EDF), France's state-owned energy company.[4] The actual Olympic flame was kept in a lantern also displayed in the garden.[9][10] The cauldron was tethered to a wire-like conduit anchored to a platform (installed 2024) in the center of the Grand Bassin Rond (a large, circular ornamental pond) at the Tuileries Garden; each night during the Games, the balloon ascended into the night sky, floating aloft 60 metres (200 feet) over the Garden, illuminated against the twilight.[11] The setting was in line with landmarks such as the Louvre Pyramid, the Obelisk at Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe,[12][4] and, in the distance, the Eiffel Tower. It was operated by French balloon manufacturer Aerophile.[13]

Use

[edit]
A view of the cauldron at night, with water nebulizers dissipating a small cloud of microscopic water droplets (aerosol) illuminated by LED lamps simulating artificial flames below the bottom of the tethered helium balloon.

During the Olympic opening ceremony, the cauldron was lit by judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-José Pérec of Guadeloupe. During the Paralympic opening ceremony, French Paralympians Alexis Hanquinquant, Nantenin Keïta, Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Fabien Lamirault, and Élodie Lorandi lit the cauldron.[1][4][14] During the Olympics closing ceremony, the "flame" on the cauldron was turned off during an opening segment. The flame's lantern was taken by French swimmer and gold medalist Léon Marchand to the closing ceremony at Stade de France, where it was blown out.[15][16][17][18]

Reception

[edit]

The cauldron has been acclaimed for its poetic symbolism, modern environmental consciousness, and the way it integrates French history into the global spirit of the Olympics. Parisians have lauded it as a popular landmark and have petitioned to have institutionalized as a permanent fixture.[19][20]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Castañeda, Kissa (29 July 2024). "Paris Olympic Torch And Cauldron: The Story Behind The Unique Design". Forbes. ISSN 0015-6914. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  2. ^ Pagliacolo, Elizabeth (8 August 2024). "Q&A: Mathieu Lehanneur and the Power of Olympic Symbols". Azure. Retrieved 13 September 2024. Free access icon
  3. ^ Surprenant, Alexandra (29 July 2024). "Liberté, éGalité, Fraternité: French Designer Mathieu Lehanneur Designs the Cauldron and Torch at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 11 September 2024. Free access icon
  4. ^ a b c d Katsikopoulou, Myrto (29 August 2024). "Mathieu Lehanneur's Balloon-Shaped Cauldron Rises to Celebrate the Paralympics' Opening". Designboom. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  5. ^ Vasavda, Mihir (28 July 2024). "40 Led Lights, a Cloud of Water-Vapour for Illumination, 200 High-Pressure Misting Nozzles: How Flying Cauldron of Paris Olympics Is Lit Up". The Indian Express. Retrieved and Archived 28 July 2024. ISSN 0715-5832; OCLC 70274541 (all editions).
  6. ^ Cooper, Gael (26 July 2024). "Is the Olympic Cauldron Flying With a Hot-Air Balloon? Here's Everything We Know". CNET. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Free access icon
  7. ^ Vol 1. – via Internet Archive (Smithsonian Libraries). Free access icon
  8. ^ Vol 2: Première Suite de la Description des Expériences Aérostatiques [First Continuation of the Description of Aerostatic Experiments] – via Google Books (Bavarian State Library). Free access icon
  9. ^ Keh, Andrew (29 July 2024) [updated August 1, 2024]. "The Olympic Flame Isn't a Flame at All" [print ed. → July 30, 2024, "A Flame of Light and Mist"]. The New York Times. Late ed. (East Coast). p. 7 (section B). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  10. ^ Ferfar, Rizhlaine (31 July 2024). "Paris 2024 Olympics: Where Has the Real Olympic Flame Gone?". Sortir à Paris (photos by Lucas Navarro). Sortaraparis.com (publisher) – a private media company located at 34, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris, founded 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  11. ^ Walsh, David (27 July 2024). "What's Special About Paris 2024's Flying Olympic Flame and How Does It Work?". EuroNews. Retrieved 29 July 2024. Free access icon
  12. ^ Flatman, Ben (30 July 2024). "French Designer Behind Innovative Olympic Cauldron That 'Burns' Without a Flame". Building Design. Retrieved 11 September 2024. Free access icon
  13. ^ Attal, Gabriel (31 July 2024). "Gabriel Attal vient voir la vasque olympique dans le jardin des Tuileries à Paris" [Gabriel Attal Comes to See the Olympic Cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris]. BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024 – via YouTube. Free access icon
  14. ^ Pesce, Fernanda (31 July 2024). "Nothing Could Go Wrong: The Story Behind the Paris Olympics Cauldron Balloon". AP. Free access icon
  15. ^ Hand, Kevin (11 August 2024). "Paris Olympics 2024 Closing Ceremony – As It Happened". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  16. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (11 August 2024). "Paris Says Goodbye to the Olympics With Golden Closing Ceremonyv". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  17. ^ Millar, Paul (12 August 2024). "Paris's Closing Ceremony Pits Old World Splendour Against Hollywood Spectacle". France 24. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  18. ^ Official Olympic News (12 August 2024). "The Olympic Games Paris 2024 Draw to a Close After an Emotional Closing Ceremony". COJOP (Paris 2024 Comité d'Organisation des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques). Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Paris Olympic Cauldron Could Stay Permanently". Agence France-Presse. 11 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Flame-Free Olympic Cauldron Becomes Hot Ticket at Paris Games". France 24. 29 July 2024.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2024 Summer Olympics cauldron.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2024_Summer_Olympics_and_Paralympics_cauldron&oldid=1252618487"