BOCOG Calls for Design Proposals for Olympic Torch

Organizers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are to launch a global campaign to solicit the design proposals for the torch of the Beijing Games.

The solicitation starts on December 6, 2005 and ends on February 2, 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announces today at a press conference held in the Beijing Olympic Media Centre.

"Our concepts of the torch design are 'glory and dream, tradition and modernity, culture and harmony'," Zhang Ming, deputy director of BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, said at the press conference. "Design proposals for the Beijing Olympic torch are supposed to artistically interpret the rich connotation of the concepts."

Submissions are also expected to display the distinguishing features of the Beijing Games, namely "Chinese style, cultural splendor and contemporary spirit", and to fully demonstrate the vitality and passion of the torchbearers, according to Zhang.

BOCOG also requires that the proposed designs should be original and creative, and the torch could be presented with state-of-the-art technology.

Anyone interested is welcome to contribute. The request forms for proposals and other related documents can be downloaded from the official BOCOG website http://www.beijing2008.com/ The organizing committee of the torch design proposal solicitation will also invite specialized art or industrial design institutes as well as individual designers, including those having involved in the torch designs for previous Games, to contribute their works.

Each participant is allowed to submit a maximum of three proposals, and each proposal should include the following documents:

1) Core design plan with the artist's impression and the three-view drawings of the proposed torch
2) Supplementary design plan: on the basis of the core design plan, participants should submit the artist's impressions and three-view drawings of the cauldron, the portable torch stand, flame canister, regulator and the torch package
3) Elaboration of design concepts
4) The exterior and interior structures of the Olympic torch, technical standards and parameters (including materials to be used, ways to open the torch, flame testing data); fuel system design (including designs for the fuel cradle, the fueling canister, the fuel ignition switch and the safety system).

As one of the most influential promotional activities in the world, the Olympic torch relay has played a significant role in spreading the Olympic spirit and showcasing the culture and history as well as the economic and social developments of the host city and host country.

For more information : http://en.beijing2008.com/

---

---