Designer behind ‘Notre-Dame on fire’ proposal chosen to design Paris 2024 Olympic torch and cauldron
A designer who proposed rebuilding Notre-Dame cathedral to make it look like it was on fire has been chosen to create the Olympic torch and cauldron for Paris 2024.
Mathieu Lehanneur has also created projects for the Pompidou Centre and worked with brands including Veuve Clicquot, Cartier and Nike.
Lehanneur, 48, is due to reveal his “lavish” designs for the Olympic and Paralympic torches and cauldrons later this year.
He was selected after a tender process, with organisers praising his “poetic and highly symbolic approach, along with his ability to grasp the values and expectations of Paris 2024”.
“In Mathieu Lehanneur, Paris 2024 has made another bold choice that reflects the audacious approach that we have adopted since the start,” said Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet.
“A pioneer who has worked with the world’s greatest, internationally renowned French designer Mathieu Lehanneur will bring all his creativity and his poetic approach to the Olympic and Paralympic torches and cauldrons, which are such great symbols of the Games.”
Lehanneur’s controversial proposal for Notre-Dame came after designers and architects were invited to suggest how to rebuild the spire which was destroyed by fire in 2019.
“In a provocative way, I proposed to rebuild the spire as it was, following the most conservative people, but as it was last week,” he said at the time.
French president Emmanuel Macron later abandoned the plans in favour of reconstructing Notre-Dames’s spire exactly as it was before the blaze.
“What a joy to be part of this adventure and what a responsibility to contribute to the history of the Games in this way!” said Lehanneur.
“Partnering with Paris 2024 to design the torches and cauldrons means giving a visible form to a set of values and transforming a state of mind into iconic objects.
“Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together… My objective is to take this Olympic motto and add: more beautiful, lighter, more lavish.”