Exterior designer revealed: "Flying" torch shows Chinese beauty and wisdom

On February 4th, Li Jianye, the exterior designer of the Beijing Winter Olympic Torch, visited the live broadcast room of the Beijing News Center of the 2022 "City of The Two Olympic Games" to reveal the Chinese beauty and Chinese wisdom behind the design of the Winter Olympic Torch.

Li Jianye is also one of the torchbearers of the Winter Olympics. He deliberately brought the torch relayed by him to the live broadcast room. On February 2, during the beijing Winter Olympic Park, he watched each torchbearer open the box and see the first reaction of the torch. "The moment people praised 'the torch is beautiful', I was very excited as a designer!" Li Jianye said.

Torchbearer Li Jianye in a torch relay on February 2. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xia Fangfang)

Fourteen years ago, at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Li Jianye witnessed Li Ningfei lighting the main torch tower like a picture scroll, which was deeply engraved in his memory. Today, the overall appearance of the Winter Olympic torch "flying" echoes the form of the main torch tower at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He explained that Beijing is the world's first "city of double Olympics", and the torch design has both inheritance and development.

From the Summer Olympics to the Winter Olympics, from "auspicious clouds" to "flying", they all carry the profound Chinese culture. Like the 2008 "Xiangyun" torch, the "Flying" appearance uses red and silver overall, but the gradient from red to silver makes the overall look more modern.

Looking closer, in addition to the auspicious cloud pattern on the torch, there are also snowflakes floating. Both come from traditional Chinese culture: snowflake patterns are paper-cut shapes, like the window flowers in many people's homes during the Spring Festival in the north, while the auspicious cloud patterns are selected from the intangible cultural heritage "brocade weaving" techniques.

The torch design lasted several months. The resulting "flying" torch is very different from the earliest submitted proposal. "The organizing committee pays more attention to the expression of the 'City of the Two Olympics', but also believes that the design is not breakthrough and innovative enough, so we will tear it down and start over." Li Jianye was originally an industrial designer of the Ali Group, but the "flying" torch had to highlight traditional Chinese culture in addition to modernity. The design team's search for inspiration is also a "journey to find roots" in traditional Chinese culture.

The core concept of the overall image landscape of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is taken from the traditional Chinese philosophical idea of "Taoism and Nature, Unity of Heaven and Man", and the torch design also follows this concept. "Flying" is like a fluttering ribbon, and the hollow and open shape is different from the traditional cylindrical torch. This inspiration actually comes from a leaf, highlighting the unadorned curl tension and beauty of nature. The endless "sense of growth" is precisely evident on the "flying" torch. Li Jianye said, "There is a benefit, there is no use", hollow can just reflect the traditional Chinese philosophical concepts, more condensed expression of the blank chinese aesthetic of the clever means.

The red flag rolls and spirals upwards, and this torch also shows the spirit of the Chinese in the new era. At the beginning of the design, Li Jianye was always looking for a symbol that could express the spirit of Chinese's hard work today and represent the continuous upward state of the entire nation. A red flag at the beginning of the movie "My Motherland and Me" released in 2019 gave him design inspiration. "In the past 100 years, the red flag has brought strength and encouragement to Chinese, and the spiritual outlook and struggle of modern China have been frozen in this symbol." He said.

In addition to the beauty of China, "Flying" is also amazing about Chinese wisdom. The torch uses hydrogen as a fuel to achieve zero carbon emissions and practice the concept of "Green Winter Olympics". The characteristics of hydrogen fuel also ensure that the torch can be used in extremely cold weather.

The silver shell of the torch is made of carbon fiber and its composite materials, showing the characteristics of "light, solid and beautiful", the thinnest place is only 0.7 mm, and it can withstand high temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius.

The way the torch burns is also special, consisting of 24 small flames, which spiral up like a fire dragon when burning. "The 24 combustion holes range from small to large, which must be beautiful enough and withstand the wind and rain." Li Jianye introduced that in the weather environment such as heavy wind and rain and snow, the torch will not be extinguished.

High torch, realize the dream of the Winter Olympics. When the torches are handed over, the tops of the two torches are interlocked, symbolizing the exchange and mutual learning of different civilizations, and also highlighting the beautiful vision of making the world more aware and harmonious.