POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games Torch prototypes

Object No. 2001/84/360

From late 1997 to early 1998, the Sydney company, Bang Design, submitted three successive tenders to design the Olympic and Paralympic torches, and the community cauldron that would feature at torch relay celebrations. This set of five torch prototypes and drawings represents Bang's first submission to the Sydney 2000 Torch Selection Committee, and the foundations for the final torch and cauldron designs. Crafted in wood, the torch prototypes feature grey surfaces and black adhesive tape that indicates openings for the flame. The absence of colour, surface finish and graphic detailing suggests that Bang was concentrating exclusively on form at this time. All five prototypes are similar in design, their tapered bodies and oblique angles alluding to the spirits of energy and innovation that identified the Sydney 2000 Games. The five drawings illustrate the prototypes and community cauldron, providing a basic impression of the early designs. For its final submission, Bang selected and refined one torch prototype, and developed a cauldron prototype, a written proposal and video production. Two other Sydney designers - Katie Molnar and Blue Sky - also participated in this final tender, with Blue Sky ultimately winning the competition. In early 1998, SOCOG invited over fifty local design companies to submit proposals for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic torches, and the portable cauldrons that would feature at Torch Relay celebrations. The detailed and exacting brief comprised broad specifications that reflected the enormity of the Torch Relay, and the environmental concerns that underpinned the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Essentially, the selected torch and cauldron would withstand the extreme weather conditions that might arise during the relay, including high winds, torrential rain and hail, varying temperatures, humidity, dust and snow. They would be safe to transport, store, and operate, simple to repair and easy to use. The torch itself would burn for up to thirty minutes while the portable cauldron, with a much larger fuel system, would burn for no less than twelve hours. Moreover, both the torch and cauldron would be ergonomic for the young, elderly and disabled, lightweight, fuel-efficient, and inexpensive to mass-produce. (The combined Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays would require 14,200 torches and 187 community cauldrons.) On 23 February 1998, three Sydney designers, Bang, Katie Molnar and Blue Sky, submitted the final torch prototypes, cauldron prototypes, videos and written proposals. The Committee judged this and two other bodies of work, and awarded the design contract to Blue Sky.