On February 2, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Torch Relay was launched, which was held in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou for three days, with a total of about 1,200 torchbearers participating in the event. The Torchbearers of the Winter Olympics come from all walks of life, and most of them have made outstanding achievements or made outstanding contributions in this system and field, which are quite representative and advanced.
Beijing News Shell Finance interviewed Li Jianye, one of the torchbearers and Alibaba's chief industrial designer, who completed his torch relay in Beijing on February 2. At the same time, he is also the appearance designer of the "flying" torch of this Winter Olympic Games.
Li Jianye in the Beijing Winter Olympic Park Torch Relay. Courtesy of respondents
Nervous, excited, mission accomplished
Give science lessons to other torchbearers
Beijing News Shell Finance: Which part of the road did you run as the torchbearer of the Beijing Winter Olympics this time? What mood and feelings?
Li Jianye: I am the 142nd baton, running in the Beijing Winter Olympic Park relay, running tens of meters, I feel that the time is quite short. A total of more than 300 people participated in the torch relay at the Winter Olympic Park today.
I think it's very exciting to be involved, especially because basically we design the "flying" torch ourselves, holding the "flying" of our own design to run, there is still a relatively different feeling. The torchbearer of this stick in front of me is Sun Yiwen, the world champion of the women's epee, and the torchbearer of the back of this stick is Academician Zhang Ping, a professor of Beiyou.
I was a little nervous before the run because I really hadn't been involved in a torch relay like this. There are also some simple trainings on how to hand over the torch, and there may be some small celebrations at the time of the handover. Many torchbearers have never seen a physical "flying" and I have "taught them a lesson". After running, I feel that I have completed a more mission-minded thing. As the torchbearer of Alibaba, I think the meaning is still very different, because in fact, there should be relatively few people from the technology Internet community in the entire torchbearer.
Beijing News Shell Finance: When did you give them this lesson?
Li Jianye: When we arrived at the entrance to the Winter Olympic Park, everyone's torches were distributed in their hands, and then everyone would take them out to see, and they all thought it was very good, and they would ask why it was designed like this, and what materials were used. I told them the meaning of "flying" design, what the materials and structures are like, and so on.
Beijing News Shell Finance: What are your usual exercise habits? What preparations did you do before this torch relay?
Li Jianye: I like badminton, football (mainly every day in college), the torch relay has been very busy before, can only see stitches and needles more walking and jogging. The night before the torch relay, I specially put on the torch relay costume and shoes and hats, jogged in the Beijing Convention Center, the assembly place, and discussed the handover celebration ceremony with the front and back sticks during the preparation time for the handover.
Beijing News Shell Finance: What do you understand the Olympic torch represents? And what is the significance of passing the torch?
Li Jianye: The torch relay is a long-standing tradition of the Olympic Games, and many Olympic Games have had this ceremony to convey hope and light through this ceremony. Especially in the current stage of the epidemic and various difficulties, it is of great social significance to convey light, hope, strength and happiness.
The design of the torch itself is also a manifestation of the national culture, the style of the city's host place, and the spiritual outlook of the local people. The torches of the past will be paid attention to and discussed by everyone. Taking the 2008 torch as an example, the concept of its own scroll, as well as elements such as the pattern of auspicious clouds, have some traditional Chinese culture in it. The torch of this year's Winter Olympics has more scientific and technological elements, such as the shell of carbon fiber woven in 3D. There is also the use of hydrogen fuel, which is zero carbon emissions. So it can make the whole Olympic Games greener and more technological. I think that "Flying" itself is also a bit of a future-oriented, more futuristic and dynamic such a new feature.
Beijing News Shell Finance: After running the relay this time, how do you deal with this torch in your hand?
Li Jianye: After running this relay, I will cherish this special "flying" torch, which is the perfect proof of such a special design project and design experience this time.
Beijing News Shell Finance: What are your thoughts on the Hosting of the Winter Olympics in Beijing? What are the viewing plans? Talk about the Olympic spirit as you understand it?
Li Jianye: I think the main thing is that at the moment of the global epidemic, people need a party and a grand event to start over, which is also the connotation of "going to the future together" as I understand it, which also shows the world a real, high-speed development of China, and also shows the world the host city of unique cultural charm - Beijing.
When it comes to the Winter Olympics, I pay more attention to China's short track speed skating teams, especially the recent post-90s and post-00s athletes, who will show the vitality and style of the new generation of Chinese.
The Olympic spirit I understand is to constantly improve myself and surpass myself in a fair and united competitive atmosphere, and to bring joy and emotion to myself and the world. The design process of the torch is also constantly breaking through and surpassing its own creativity and ideas, and finally reaching an unprecedented height of innovation, which is perfectly in line with the Olympic spirit.
The "flying" torch designed by the Alibaba design team. Courtesy of respondents
The concept of "City of The Two Olympics" impressed the organizing committee
The torch is more like a "ceremonial vessel"
Beijing News Shell Finance: You have not only participated in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but also participated in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and you are also a "double Olympic person", how can the design of "Flying Flying" better reflect the inheritance? And Beijing's City of The Two Olympics?
Li Jianye: At the beginning, the plan we shortlisted was a dynamic form of streamer curling up, in the middle we made a ceramic burning core, the shape of which is somewhat similar to the main torch tower of the 2008 Olympic Games, and later found that our shortlisting is related to this, because in all the solicitation proposals, the design that reflects the concept of the City of The Two Olympics is relatively small.
Later, the organizing committee asked us to show this point. So we made a gradient from xiangyun to snowflake on the main body, of which xiangyun is also extracted from an intangible cultural heritage craft, and the snowflake is paper-cut, which is also because the Winter Olympics will be held in the Spring Festival, and during the Spring Festival, we will paste a lot of that kind of paper-cut thing, so these are all in this sense.
I think one is that the main shape is related to the main torch tower in 2008, and the second is the inheritance and innovation in the pattern. Then the color is also related, the main torch tower and the auspicious cloud torch in 2008 are also silver and red, and the "flying" uses silver and red, but now the red gradient is silver, which will look more modern.
Beijing News Shell Finance: What is the concept of the hollow and open design of the torch body? What does the streamer image represent? What other ideas are there?
Li Jianye: Hollow opening actually has two dimensions. First of all, hollow opening equals that our torch is not the traditional cylindrical torch, we put the combustion in the mezzanine of the two streamers, and the torch itself is also opened. This open shape is more in line with the "Tao Te Ching" mentioned in the "Tao Te Ching" that "there is profit, there is no use for it", Chinese pay more attention to the dimension of emptiness, including the traditional Chinese aesthetic, pay attention to cloth white when writing calligraphy, Chinese painting may have a lot of empty parts, and the combination of the two parts of "emptiness" and "reality" is actually a completion of a Chinese aesthetic, and the Chinese aesthetic is more abstract.
Many people will have a lot of imagination when they see this shape, like calligraphy, like red flag rolling, and like a track, or it can be seen that it has a sense of speed, and the Winter Olympics will generally be faster, so we will put this more dynamic feeling into the whole torch.
The element of streamers as the entire visual landscape of the Winter Olympics, many places have it, including the emblem of the Winter Olympics, which is also like the feeling of flying with ribbons, in addition to ice ribbons. The streamer thing is also related to the original Belt and Road, open connection or communication.
The torch in the overall dynamics and 08 years is not the same, it is a bit of a spiral upward style, but also represents the national development of this country to a higher level, 08 years is more peaceful, the spirit of the two torches is a little different.
The silver and red of the main body symbolize the meeting of ice and fire, and the passion soars, illuminates the ice and snow, and warms the world. From the bottom up, the inner and outer double layers are like ribbons fluttering, and finally merge with the flying sacred flame. Dynamic, flowing red lines run up and down around the torch, symbolizing the passion of the ice and snow track, expressing the endless human life, yearning for peace, the desire for excellence and the power of the Olympic Movement.
In addition, when the torches are handed over, the tops of the two torches can be closely interlocked, just like shaking hands, which is not only a design ingenuity, but also symbolizes the exchange and mutual learning of different civilizations, and the vision of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics that makes the world more aware and harmonious. It is also hoped that humanity can join hands to face challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and overcome adversity together.
Beijing News Shell Finance: You are a very professional designer, from Motorola to Philips, as well as some of the design of the automobile industry earlier, including the back to the hammer technology, designed a lot of products, so what is the difference between the feeling of designing industrial products after the design of the Winter Olympic torch and before designing industrial products?
Li Jianye: I think the torch product is more like a "ceremonial instrument", and the product we usually make is a supplies, the ceremonial instrument and the supplies are still very different, it carries more cultural meanings, including it must be in an international event like the Winter Olympics to show a spirit of modern China, so the design difficulty and emphasis of these two types of products are still quite different. Traditional industrial design will pay more attention to some commercial considerations, including product differentiation, cost, and how to achieve functions.
Of course, the torch itself also has many experience function requirements, for example, the organizing committee required the torch to withstand 10 levels of wind and rain, can burn for 5 or 6 minutes, and we also hope that it can withstand falls. As a ceremonial vessel, it can be interpreted in a lot of things, it can not be a very simple shape and then can burn. When everyone sees it, they have to imagine that it is a grand event in China. Secondly, we also hope that they are younger, more energetic and more confident than in 2008, because China has undergone 14 years of development and change from 2008 to the present, and the current state of national cultural self-confidence will be different from before.
For example, programs like "Only This Green" in the Spring Festival Gala are difficult to imagine in 2008. Now it is more understanding and love of traditional Chinese culture, and I can use it to do some more modern treatment.
Li Jianye, chief industrial designer of Alibaba. Courtesy of respondents
Repeatedly polished many rounds
Find inspiration from a leaf
Beijing News Shell Finance: How did you participate in the entire torch design from the very beginning?
Li Jianye: There is a colleague in the marketing department of the group, who is one of the staff of the 2008 Olympic Games, who is more sensitive to the Olympic Games, he saw the organizing committee of the Winter Olympics openly soliciting the design of the torch for the public, and asked whether the design team in the group has the ability and willingness to participate in this matter, and then found the Tmall Genie, I brought the Tmall Genie design team and the Aliyun design team, Tmall Genie mainly has the ability to industrially design this piece, so basically the students of this team participated. Then it took almost a year before and after the road.
In April 2020, the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee began to openly solicit design proposals, in May we began to put into work, and on September 22, we received a notice that the team's plan won the bid, and then more cooperation with aerospace science and technology group and Sinopec on the combustion and materials inside the torch, producing these things. It was almost september and more, and it was this part of the project implementation. By December, the sample was fixed. On February 4, 2021, that is, the time point of the countdown to the Winter Olympics, "Flying" was released, and since then, there are actually many mass production work, as well as supporting the surrounding product activity lights, activity tables, etc., which are all done by our team. There should be 1,200 torchbearers in total, and the completion time of mass production of these 1,200 torches should be about June and July 2021, which basically took more than a year.
Beijing News Shell Finance: You just mentioned that you began to prepare in May 2020, and then submitted 5 plans, and in September, you were notified that the plan won the bid, what was your mood at that moment when you won the bid?
Li Jianye: At that time, it was also quite coincidental, just in Hangzhou, the whole group was meeting to see the summary report of everyone's work in the first half of the year. One of our colleagues was reporting that a lot of the work he was doing was actually related to the "Hanamaki" project, and then another colleague of ours said to us on DingTalk that our "Hanamaki" was out of the pot.
I was very excited. I told my colleagues who were reporting that there was no need to report anymore, and the results showed that they were still excellent at work. It was afternoon, we said that in the evening, the whole team went to dinner and sang together, and the venue was also booked, and we received a phone call to inform us that we were going to hold a meeting with PetroChina and the Aerospace Science and Technology Group the next day, and we rushed from Hangzhou to Beijing overnight.
Beijing News Shell Finance: When convening the team to do design, how can we innovate, what memorable stories in the middle, or some core breakthroughs?
Li Jianye: This clip just now also reflects that the pace of the whole project at that time was very fast, and the workload was very, very large. We actually entered the second round from the first round with some of our own experience and some ideas, but then because several units are very powerful, so in the second round, the organizing committee asked us to have a breakthrough on the basis of the original plan and make a better plan, which is actually quite directionless at this time. We have always done industrial design, and some products will not have so many cultural considerations, so we have spent a lot of time to do a cultural combing, from all dimensions to sort out a message that China may transmit to the world in the 2022 Winter Olympics, and what kind of appearance it looks like.
First, some key words will be determined, and after some ideas are probably given, concepts such as "hollowness" inspired by Chinese philosophy will be generated, and the combustion method will also determine hydrogen. But after these concepts are available, to the form stage, that is, how to be more suitable in the shape, as well as chinese beauty, this stage is more painful, the form has been repeatedly polished for many rounds, every time to report, the organizing committee also feels that it is not good enough, and then it is denied, and then it comes back to get it again, and the next day it goes again, there are many staying up late and working overtime. Finally, at the end of August, almost as the countdown was approaching, we found inspiration from a leaf and made the whole form relatively free, more unrestrained, with the feeling of endless growth. At the beginning of September, we decided that the plan was OK, so we went down to make a model, and after the model was submitted, the results were released on September 22.
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