OLYMPIC FLYING CAULDRON 2024
OLYMPIC TORCH PARIS 2024
"Designing the Olympic torch is a designer's dream: a dream that only comes true once in a lifetime, like a miraculous encounter with History. As ritualistic as it is magical, the torch is a mythical object. As a symbol of cohesion and sharing, it is the veritable key to opening the Games. It will cross thousands of kilometers, passed from hand to hand, over land and sea. For Paris 2024, and for the first time in its history, it will play with perfect symmetry to better express a message of equality. I wanted it to be extremely pure, iconic, and almost essential. Simple like a hyphen and fluid like a flame..."
Mathieu Lehanneur
The Paris 2024 Olympic
and Paralympic Games Torch is distinguished first and foremost by its colour,
which is both unique and radiant. To reflect the forthcoming Games, Mathieu
Lehanneur also drew inspiration from three themes of Paris 2024: Equality,
Water and Peacefulness.
EQUALITY
From the bid through to
the organising of the Games today, equality is a driving force behind the Paris
2024 project. Equality means putting the same ambition into organising the
Paralympic Games as the Olympic Games. Following on from the emblem and the
mascots, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will share the same Torch design.
Equality in the Paris 2024 project is also reflected in the strong commitment
to parity in the Olympic Games: for the first time in the history of the Games,
as many women as men will take part in the competitions. To reflect this
ambition, the design of the Torch is perfectly symmetrical, both horizontally
and vertically, to symbolise this equality.
WATER
Water will occupy a
special place in the Paris 2024 Games. Arriving via the Mediterranean Sea
aboard the Belem, the Torch will take the Olympic Flame across the Atlantic,
Indian and Pacific Oceans in the "Relais des Océans», to reach 5 overseas
territories: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, French Polynesia and
Réunion.
Water is also at the
heart of Paris as no one can imagine the capital without the Seine and Paris
2024 could not organise the Games without the river playing a pivotal role. As
the stage for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, the natural venue for Olympic
and Paralympic events and acting as the link between Paris and the
SeineSaint-Denis département, the Seine will be the backbone of the forthcoming
Games.
Water has inspired the
wave, 3D and vibration effects on the Torch, which reproduce the ripples and
movements of water, in addition to the reflections of light on its surface.
PEACEFULNESS
The Olympic and
Paralympic Games have always been a symbol of peace. Since ancient Greece, the
Olympic Flame has carried a message of unity to people and nations. The legacy
of a thousand-year-old tradition, it symbolises the ideal of the Olympic truce.
Reflecting this desire
for peace, the Torch, with its curves and rounded lines, is suffused with gentleness.
Pure in form, almost elemental, the design of the Torch conveys generosity and
solidarity.
ELEPHANT, ARMCHAIR
PILLARS, CONSOLE
GUERLAIN L’ ESSENTIEL
" The bubble is part
of my lexicon of forms. I like its complexity and limpidity. It is rational and
optimal, organic and magical at the same time. I wanted L'Essentiel to induce
this terminology: an intuitive and sculptural object, devised both for the skin
and for the hollow of the hand. " ML
S.M.O.K.E, TABLE LAMP
ANDREA,
LIVING AIR PURIFIER
Upon the return of the
first space flights and many analyses, NASA discovered a high level of toxic
volatile compounds in the astronauts' body tissues. The American spacecraft
mostly constructed of plastic, fibreglass, insulating materials and fire
retardants gradually poisoned the astronauts.
The same effect was
experienced in our living spaces. Each manufactured product gives off or -
more precisely - emits even several years after having been manufactured.
This is invisible
and imperceptible by humans, the products and equipment constantly give off the
volatile components of which the material is made of.
The wooden table
off-gases pentachlorophenol from its' fungicides, the paint emits
the trichlorethylene from its' binders (Listed N° 2 in the
carcinogenic substances). Formaldehyde (listed as a "definite
carcinogenic" by the World Health Organization) also off-gases fumes from
plastic furniture, glues, insulating materials, domestic cleaning products,
etc...
ANDREA is a living
air filter which absorbs undesirable effects of contaminated air by the
profusion of manufactured goods. It takes in the air from the room and absorbs
its' toxic compounds.
ANDREA uses plants selected for their filtering ability.
(The gerbera,the philodendron, the spathiphyllum,
the pathos and the chlorophytum are among the plants
found to be most effective.)
The air which passes through
the ANDREA is purified by the leaves and roots of the plant.
TRINITY
BUCKY ‘S, SEAT
BUCKY'S, SEAT
Bucky is a leather seat
whose geometry distorts beneath different weights and body positions.
Bucky is a confirmed tribute to R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of geodesic,
reputed non-deformable architecture...
OCEAN MEMORIES, STOOL & SIDE TABLE
Ocean Memories Collection
"Ocean Memories
offers a surrealist and materialized vision of a sea frozen in its movement.
Like a freeze-frame in three dimensions, the pieces capture the subtle reliefs
of waves and currents.The transition from solid to liquid is a magic
of physics. A moment of change from static to movement, a passage from the inert
to the living" ML
OCEAN MEMORIES, BENCH
OCEAN MEMORIES, BENCH
Ocean Memories Collection
"Ocean Memories offers a surrealist and materialized vision of a sea frozen in its movement. Like a freeze-frame in three dimensions, the pieces capture the subtle reliefs of waves and currents. The transition from solid to liquid is a magic of physics. A moment of change from static to movement, a passage from the inert to the living"
Mathieu Lehanneur
OCEAN MEMORIES
TAKE TIME!, WATCH LEXON
Unusual and timeless,
Take Time ! by Mathieu Lehanneur is the reinvention of an old classic for the
digital age to create a new contemporary unisex, watertight and compact
archetype. With an ideal synthesis of the codes of the watch- making tradition
for the Instagram generation, the French designer draws upon the collective
psyche 'between the pocket watch and the pendulum of Professor Cuthbert
Calculus' to finally take a firm grasp of time. Lovely to look at as well as to
use, Take Time ! nestles in the palm of your hand, slips onto your wrist or
onto your belt. As the months go by the Take Time ! range will diversify with
new colours, new sizes and new materials for all those for whom time is simply
an accessory.
HUG CHAIR
HUG ARMCHAIR
DOMESTIC FOREST, BENCH
The Domestic Forest bench
explores an unprecedented manufacturing process, with a technological and
poetic approach. Composed of a wooden trunk, it metaphorically reconciles craft
and industrial work with the raw resource, seeming little transformed, and
function, both designed in an elegant and delicate universe.
FAMILYSCAPE - RAINBOW EDITION
FLOOD CHAIR
DELICIOUS, CABINETS
Delicious is a collection
of storage cupboards inspired by Manhattan hotdog stands. A padded stainless
steel sheet is the origin of the project. Polished, then colour varnished
ending up as luxurious as a Chanel bag. Solid and precious, Delicious is part
of family-life. In different sizes and colours, they can be stacked, lined up
or grouped together.
GUERNICA
HOME PAWN, STOOL & SIDE TABLE
" Permanent Flame is a frozen flame, an
instant captured in three dimensions. A fire without fuel, forever." Mathieu Lehanneur
STRAW FALL, LOW TABLE
TAKE IT HEAVY, DUMBBELL
FAMILYSCAPE, SOFAS
FAMILYSCAPE , SOFAS
" I like that a piece of furniture does not dictate how to sit. These sofas give you total freedom: chat, sleep, debate or reflect, feet on the ground or legs in the air - there are so many ways to use them."
Mathieu Lehanneur
HAPPY TO BE HERE, TABLE
HAPPY TO BE HERE, CONSOLE
INVERTED GRAVITY, CONSOLE
INVERTED GRAVITY, SIDEBOARD
Inverted Gravity
Collection
"
Not unlike the conquest of space, the poetry of the quest is only possible
because it is supported by technological expertise. Here, each bubble of glass
is able to support more than 250 kg. Their apparent delicacy is only an
illusion. " ML
INVERTED GRAVITY, DINING TABLE
INVERTED GRAVITY BENCH
Inverted Gravity
Collection
"
Not unlike the conquest of space, the poetry of the quest is only possible
because it is supported by technological expertise. Here, each bubble of glass
is able to support more than 250 kg. Their apparent delicacy is only an
illusion. " ML
LIQUID MARBLE SERIES V & A MUSEUM
INVERTED GRAVITY, STOOL
FLAT HOLE RUG
SOFT QUAKE, LOW TABLE
SOFT QUAKE, LOW TABLE
" In the quarry, a block of marble was laid there. It had been broken by accident. I imagined it as a marble quake."
Mathieu Lehanneur
SQUARE SUN
LES CORDES, CHANDELIER
"This chandelier was
conceived as a rope of light crossing the ceiling, only bands of light and
glass are visible. It is not an object. It is not a light fitting. It is the
light itself that seems to live and circulate in the entrance space, as if
stiched onto the building itself." ML
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2016, LIQUID MARBLE
MATHIEU LEHANNEUR,
A DESIGNER IN THE BROAD
SENSE
There’s one word that
comes up a lot in Mathieu Lehanneur’s work: magic. Highlighting a sense of
wonder which can emerge where you least expect it is an everyday preoccupation
for a French designer renowned throughout the world for his talent in melding
technology, art and design.
Born in 1974, Mathieu
Lehanneur is one of the few designers of his generation to be able to embrace
so many creative spheres. His approach is radically multidisciplinary: from
objects to architecture, art to products and from one-off pieces to cuttingedge
technologies. His pieces draw on nature, science, history and technique.
With a thirst for
experimentation and creative exploration, he works with the best craftspeople
and is also involved in a number of start-ups in the fields of technology and
urban mobility.
Through his eponymous
brand, Mathieu Lehanneur produces and distributes his pieces throughout the
world. Alongside his Factory, where he develops his ideas and creations, he has
opened a Piedà-Terre in New York. It’s an exclusive, space in one of the city’s
most beautiful skyscrapers, where he gives a voice to his latest creations and
to his world.
A prominent figure in
French design, Mathieu Lehanneur is the winner of the «Grand Prix de la
Création de la Ville de Paris». His work is now part of some of the world’s
most important public and private collections, including those of the Pompidou
Centre and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris as well as the Museum of
Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.
THE "FACTORY":
MATHIEU LEHANNEUR’S CREATIVE BASE
Mathieu Lehanneur and his
team develop and design his creations in the heart of a magnificent industrial
building just outside Paris. The designer has set up offices, workshops and an
exhibition space throughout this historical site that is over a hundred years
old. Headquarters of his brand, the Factory is an "island of independence,
a fortress of ideas and energy", as the designer describes it. All the
pieces of furniture and artwork are conceived and developed here, from the
first sketches to the packaging and shipments across the whole world. It was
also in the Factory that the various torch prototypes were tested and refined
with teams from Paris 2024 and ArcelorMittal.
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