French designer Mathieu Lehanneur created the electric Olympic cauldron for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to resemble a hot-air balloon and be "a beacon in the night and a sun within reach".
The 30-metre-tall cauldron, which references traditional hot-air balloons, has a seven-diametre ring of fire at its base that was set ablaze by athletes Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner on Friday to launch the Paris 2024 Olympics.
But while traditional hot-air balloons are powered by burning fossil fuels, the cauldron's ring of fire is not actually fire at all. Lehanneur instead designed the balloon cauldron with a non-combusting "electric flame".
This is composed of 40 LED spotlights that illuminate a cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.
"This absolutely unique cauldron represents all the spirit I wanted to give to the Olympic and Paralympic objects," Lehanneur said.
"Light, magical and unifying, it will be a beacon in the night and a sun within reach during the day," he added. "The fire that burns in it will be made of light and water, like a cool oasis in the heart of summer."
Located in the Jardin des Tuileries, the Olympic cauldron nods to France's history of flight and hot air balloons. In 1783, physicist Jacques Charles' hydrogen-filled gas balloon took off from the area.
The 2024 Olympic cauldron will remain on the ground during the daytime throughout the Olympics, but at sunset, it will rise 60 metres into the sky and be visible from hundreds of metres away.
The electric balloon is the third piece of design that Lehanneur created for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, following the torch and the relay cauldron, with the designs all meant to complement each other.
Each has a metallic colour that was created by mixing the gold, silver and bronze medals.
"I created the torch, the relay cauldron and the Olympic cauldron as three chapters in the same story," Lehanneur explained. "The cauldron is the epilogue and the ultimate symbol of that story."
Each design was also intended to symbolise one part of France's national motto – Liberty, Equality, Fraternity – with the flying cauldron meant to reference liberty.
"While the symmetry of the torch symbolises equality, the relay cauldron, with its pure, circular ring, symbolises fraternity," the Paris 2024 organisers said.
"All that was missing was liberty to complete the national motto. Between earth and sky, the Paris 2024 Flying Cauldron is the perfect representation of this."
The energy used to power the cauldron was supplied by energy company EDF and comes from 100 per cent renewable electricity.
"Thanks to an innovation by EDF, the Paris 2024 Cauldron will shine for the first time with a 100 per cent electric flame," EDF CEO and chairman Luc Rémont said.
"This 'electric revolution' was made possible thanks to the monumental work carried out by our teams and designer Mathieu Lehanneur," he added.
"Their creativity and innovative strength have made it possible to design a flame without fossil-fuel combustion, a flame made of water and light."
Find out more about this year's Olympic games in our Olympic Impact series, which examines the carbon-reduction measures taken by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and explores whether sustainable major sporting events are possible.
As part of the series, we explored the notable venues used for the games, including the Eiffel Tower Stadium.
The photography is courtesy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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