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Opening Ceremony


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Posted

Addition: I just googled a bit and found this interesting post from June 2010 in the SkyscraperCity forum. It seems that in fact, a cauldron on top of the Orbit is highly unlikely, if this is really an official document:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=59322761&postcount=93

Sharp research, Fab. I didn't think LOCOG would ride on that ugly conception of Boris. I think, location-wise, it's going to be something like where Sydney's cauldron eventually sat: on the upper rim of the stadium.

Posted

Addition: I just googled a bit and found this interesting post from June 2010 in the SkyscraperCity forum. It seems that in fact, a cauldron on top of the Orbit is highly unlikely, if this is really an official document:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=59322761&postcount=93

I have reaad that before. Just proves how easy you can forget, for me anyway.

Thanks for digging it out. Puts my mind at ease a little. I really wouldn't like the Orbit to hold the cauldron. That would be my worst possible scenario.

Posted

I think, location-wise, it's going to be something like where Sydney's cauldron eventually sat: on the upper rim of the stadium.

No, Myles -- their original plan was (and probably still is, now that the Orbit is ruled out as cauldron tower) to have an external cauldron north of the stadium, i.e. a cauldron tower.

Someone has even posted an official ODA map here once which showed the location for the cauldron tower. Didn't you join in the discussion back then as well? You rarely leave out a cauldron or ceremony discussion. ;)

Anyway, you can find that map also in the cauldron thread on SkyscraperCity where I found the aforementioned post: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=59432041&postcount=97

And according to another member of the SSC forum, the cauldron tower will be 490 feet (149 metres) tall: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=62258249&postcount=104 (Does anyone know what or whom he/she means with "EG"?)

And here's a fairly recent picture of the area in which the cauldron shall actually be constructed: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=797662&page=8

The guys over there at SSC really have some interesting information. You can find the whole SSC London cauldron thread here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=797662

So we obviously can't expect a cauldron on the rim of the roof. I also think that the rather temporary roof of Olympic Stadium cannot sustain also a heavy cauldron, besides the floodlights and the other weight already put on the roof. Remember: They had to build the cauldron for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games on the ground of Maracana Stadium because the stadium's roof couldn't sustain such a heavy cauldron either.

Addendum: I've found the real ODA maps and drawings clearly stating that they plan an Olympic cauldron north of the stadium. Apparently, RobH posted them back then on the SSC forum (and probably he was also the guy who posted the documents here):

ODA map showing the location of the cauldron

ODA drawing of the possible heights and widths of the cauldron tower

Posted

I have an idea of how it MIGHT be lit...but it's still too early to reveal my cards. B)

Braggart. ;) Let me guess: Shall your lighting scenario be included in the new edition of your book? ;)

Posted

No; I won't put it in. It's too permanent a record if it didn't pan out the way I think it might.

Wise decision. ;) But then I don't see a reason why you should keep your "lighting method" idea secret now. ;)

Posted

James Bond should light the flame with a bazooka - hey, good promo for the new movie next year. B)

Posted

Not strictly the OC, but ...

SCISSOR SISTERS TO OPEN OLYMPICS

THE Scissor Sisters are the first major act signed up for a free musical curtain-raiser to next year’s Olympics.

Six stages will be set up at historic sites along the River Thames in London on July 21 and 22, the weekend before the 2012 Games begin.

Up to 500,000 music fans are expected to take advantage of the free shows. New York band the Scissor Sisters were the first big act to be named, along with Senegalese superstar Baaba Maal, 57, and US jazz king Wynton Marsalis, 50, performing with the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra.

The BT River of Music extravaganza is intended to offer music from around the world to tie in with the global Games.

Musicians from Europe including emerging British acts will be performing at stages in Trafalgar Square and at Somerset House.

American fare will be on offer at the Tower of London, with Asian sounds in Battersea Park, African music in Jubilee Gardens and Oceania represented at Greenwich Old Royal Naval College.

Some of the sites will require tickets for entry, but they will all be free.

Ruth Mackenzie, the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival director, said: “Of all the ideas we have had, it is probably one of the most ambitious.

“I hope that it is one that other Olympic host cities will pinch.

“This is a project of incredible scale. It is a chance for artists to share and collaborate, get beyond the playlist and enjoy a bit of Olympic magic.”

BT, the Olympic Lottery, Arts Council England and the British Council are backing the event.

Ticketing information will be announced in May.

Daily Star

Posted

I was told by a very reliable source that gas lines were run to the tower site and also into the stadium to keep their options open

Yes, but by all other indications they are planning a cauldron tower. And I have some difficulties imagining a heavy Thomas Heatherwick sculpture-like cauldron on that rather temporary (and probably not very load-bearing) stadium roof. And the roof is actually the only place where they can install a cauldron within/on the stadium without being in the way for athletics' competition.

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Posted

Lets hope we get a bit of this on the opening night. Minus the blatant advertising obviously : )

Wow...that was impressive. It seems "mapping" is the new trend for shows these days :) . Imagine these kind of projections onto the Wrap.

Another similar show celebrating Moscow 864th Birthday (and David Atkins was behind it)

Posted

These projections are all starting to look a bit the same, the novelty has worn off, but they are effective I guess and always a crowd pleaser.

Posted

These projections are all starting to look a bit the same, the novelty has won off, but they are effective I guess.

The Moscow clip very much reminded me of the opening of the Atlantis resort in Dubai, UAE.

Posted

I was never impressed with projections in the first place honestly. They just seem cheap, I wish they would go back to a more traditional style.

Posted

Yeah i agree with you Max

2 of the best ceremonies, Barcelona and Sydney were amazing due to the mass performers, without these projections. Only time i have seen them done good was Vancouver with the dolphins and South africa with the elephants.

Posted

Projections if used correctly can be very entertaining. I thot So Africa did a great job in their Closing. Plus, well many of Vancouver's effects were the results of projections. They have to be clever and tell a story...NOT be the end-all.

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