Rio 2016 Olympic Cauldron

[Buddy_LeChat]

4 minutes ago, baron-pierreIV said:

But that was just a separate contractor for the installation, right?  I mean you still crafted the outdoor sculpture, too -- and just delivered it to them??

We only crafted the one in the Stadium. We did not get the outside one. I think it was built in Brazil.

1 minute ago, Ikarus360 said:

Show Canada Industries seem to also have been involved in the Doha 2006 cauldron (its shown on their  website). No wonder why the Rio one looks so similar to it. 

Yes, we did the Doha one. I was not working for them back then. But they are mechanically quite different.

[paul]

How was it shipped and did you go to install it?

Also, what was the biggest challenge in production?

Thank you for adding your insight in the forum it's pretty cool to hear about it form someone close to the production.

[baron-pierreIV]

So, Buddy_LeChat, was there a prima donna producer (Ballich?  Mereilles? Tomas?) who threw fits and tantrums when a screw came loose or the flame did not burn in the desired way?  

Where will the stadium sculpture go after the Games?   (To a Rio museum?)  

[Buddy_LeChat]

8 minutes ago, paul said:

How was it shipped and did you go to install it?

Also, what was the biggest challenge in production?

Thank you for adding your insight in the forum it's pretty cool to hear about it form someone close to the production.

Shipped by regular 40 foot containers. We used 2. the main ring can be broke in 4 parts. 30 bushings with 4 arms per bushing for a total of 120 arms. 4 spheres per arms with a disc at the extremity. 2 electrical motors to power the mechanism. I'll stop here as I would have to give the whole set of drawings... :-P

Biggest challenge: chrome paint (480 spheres total for the strucure all made of fiberglass)... and time! :-P Did I say time? But the Paralympics project was even crazier as for schedule...

1 minute ago, baron-pierreIV said:

So, Buddy_LeChat, was there a prima donna producer (Ballich?  Mereilles? Tomas?) who threw fits and tantrums when a screw came loose or the flame did not burn in the desired way?  

Where will the stadium sculpture go after the Games?   (To a Rio museum?)  

We had not interaction with the producers but did met and talk a lot with the artist, Anthony Howe. A cool guy by the way.

About the "lose screw", you are well informed!!! lol... My 2 guys on site were pretty stressed but we made it work for the ceremony! They did an awesome job. As for the flame, we had no link to it.

Everything is coming back home... Still no idea of what will happen with the kinetic structure.

[paul]

Wow even by fabricating parts in fiberglass it weights a lot! Must have been a total time freak-out.......considering how complex and huge it is. I'm sure you were all sweating bullets too when the reveal came hoping nothing goes wrong...just turn baby turn! it all went perfect........awesome job.

Why is it "coming back home"....wont it stay in Rio?

[Buddy_LeChat]

It's a mix of steel, brass, aluminum and fiberglass... And sweat... Weight is somewhere in the 6000 pounds (2721 kg). Then you need to had the bracket for the trolley.

Sweating bullets... Would mostly say... sweating "chrome paint"... As it was quite a challenge to get it done right! And in a timely manner.

And regarding the "coming back home" it is a contractual item that I'm not involved with.

[paul]

 The chrome looked perfect...thought it was all metal. The finish was amazing.

Edited August 7, 2016 by paul

[baron-pierreIV]

19 hours ago, Buddy_LeChat said:

Everything is coming back home... Still no idea of what will happen with the kinetic structure.

 

Maybe your equipment; but certainly NOT the sculpture and the cauldron.  I mean, Rio 2016 already paid for those items.  

Maybe they'll go to the Olympic Park or to Brasilia, or that new Museum of Tomorrow? 

[JMarkSnow2012]

3 hours ago, baron-pierreIV said:

Maybe your equipment; but certainly NOT the sculpture and the cauldron.  I mean, Rio 2016 already paid for those items.  

Maybe they'll go to the Olympic Park or to Brasilia, or that new Museum of Tomorrow? 

Maybe as part of the frantic cost-cutting they renegotiated the deal from a purchase to a short-term hire (like Tait's 74,000 "pixel paddles" for London 2012).

[baron-pierreIV]

26 minutes ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Maybe as part of the frantic cost-cutting they renegotiated the deal from a purchase to a short-term hire (like Tait's 74,000 "pixel paddles" for London 2012).

But you saw the expenditure budgeted for the Cauldrons - US$3.2 million.  What would ShowCanada do with that prop -- and why waste $$ for shipping it back?  But I was just curious about the overall arrangements of the job.  So Howe got "commissioned" (I guess to tweak his original Sculpture design; and then add a burning bowl), but then parcel out the manufacture contracts to ShowCanada and Heuttinger in Germany??  How bizarre.  Did each contractor undercut the other so that the 2 jobs went to 2 separate parties?  The Port Area installation is one-time job; whereas the stadium use will be 4 times.  It's just puzzling.  

[JMarkSnow2012]

11 minutes ago, baron-pierreIV said:

But you saw the expenditure budgeted for the Cauldrons - US$3.2 million.  What would ShowCanada do with that prop -- and why waste $$ for shipping it back?  But I was just curious about the overall arrangements of the job.  So Howe got "commissioned" (I guess to tweak his original Sculpture design; and then add a burning bowl), but then parcel out the manufacture contracts to ShowCanada and Heuttinger in Germany??  How bizarre.  Did each contractor undercut the other so that the 2 jobs went to 2 separate parties?  The Port Area installation is one-time job; whereas the stadium use will be 4 times.  It's just puzzling.  

That documented expenditure was what made me think of a possible late switch to a hire- if Rio's entire ceremonies budget is around US$10 million, as Meirelles seems to be implying from his comments about spending 1/12 of London's OC budget, then $3.2 million is a huge chunk gone. It's probably easier to sell in North America than in Brazil (given that most potential Brazilian purchasers are likely to be in jail within the next few months)

As for the manufacture outsourcing- that's the way Howe works:

http://www.howeart.net/Ordering.html

[olympiaki-agones]

Honestly, these cauldrons (Sydney, London and Rio de Janeiro) have been the most spectacular, elegant, and full of inspiration. Representing waterfalls, flowers and the sun, elements well represented that we all humans are every day in touch with.

[baron-pierreIV]

28 minutes ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

That documented expenditure was what made me think of a possible late switch to a hire- if Rio's entire ceremonies budget is around US$10 million, as Meirelles seems to be implying from his comments about spending 1/12 of London's OC budget, then $3.2 million is a huge chunk gone. It's probably easier to sell in North America than in Brazil (given that most potential Brazilian purchasers are likely to be in jail within the next few months)

As for the manufacture outsourcing- that's the way Howe works:

http://www.howeart.net/Ordering.html

 

 

I'm quite familiar with the bidding process (as I sit on our HOA board).  And once you sign contracts, considering the finite time factor involved -- those are pretty much iron-clad.  

Here's the thing.  The stadium piece with the small bowl (as indicated above by Buddy) was made with fiberglass and faux chrome to keep it as light as possible (and was not built for eternity).  That plus the armature plus the smaller bowl were, unless Buddy corrects me, the purview of ShowCanada's job.  

The outdoor one, crafted by Huttinger and I guess a local gas partner, is made of real steel and chrome because it is meant for eternity. So it's understandable that the outdoor set-up could conceivably have cost $2.4 million; and the inside one, I'd guess, seems reasonable in the $750K range.  

I believe the major cutback in the Ceremonial budget was the refusal to add an extra-wide entrance directly in front of the Tribune of Honor in order to hasten the March of the Athletes.  That and probably a few other things caused Ric Birch to walk away.  So they ended up with the marching-in access length-wise rather than a shorter cross-wise axis.  

Edited August 8, 2016 by baron-pierreIV

[Brekkie Boy]

Just had a shot on the BBC at the end of their primetime coverage of the cauldron with the sculpture moving and it looks pretty impressive. 

[Buddy_LeChat]

2 hours ago, baron-pierreIV said:

Here's the thing.  The stadium piece with the small bowl (as indicated above by Buddy) was made with fiberglass and faux chrome to keep it as light as possible (and was not built for eternity).  That plus the armature plus the smaller bowl were, unless Buddy corrects me, the purview of ShowCanada's job.  

Guys, I will stay away of all political/economical or other unrelated matters. Our focus was to realize this awesome mechanical structure, giving it the best possible look and doing it on time.

One achievement we did was that the structure had to be hanged, resist a certain wind speed (don't recall the number), turn in both directions up to 5 rpm with variable speed control and within an overall dimension from disc to disc of approx 40 feet (12 m). So we had to be creative and use various types of regular materials to keep the weight at around 6000 pounds (2700 kg). And all of this within a normal budget. So no exotic materials here but a mix of steel, aluminum, brass, fiberglass & pvc, which are all durable materials in my book! Look at your car.

You may think it was not built for eternity but it was constructed to be shown in all ceremonies and meet the specifications of the request for proposal. As for the "faux chrome" effect, it's not fake at all and was quite a challenge!

Add to this that you need to ship the equipment and be able to fit it in regular containers... All of this in 2.5 months.

As for the small flame bowl, we were not related to it, only the kinetic structure.

[baron-pierreIV]

@Buddy_LeChat  Didn't mean to shortchange the quality of your work.  I just didn't find the right words to compare an all-weather model built to withstand all elements outside for decades vs. a lighter weight model to be hung and used primarily for finite-time show purposes.  

Edited August 10, 2016 by baron-pierreIV

[Cauê]

For me, this is the most beautiful cauldron.

[Cauê]

For me, this is the most beautiful cauldron of all time.

[JMarkSnow2012]

3 hours ago, Cauê said:

For me, this is the most beautiful cauldron of all time.

 

You should really do an animated gif of it though !

[TeamBlakeUSA]

I LikeLike Rio's 2016 Cauldron, Is It Gonna Be The Same For The Paralympics?

[Mr Tickle]

Its a beautiful thing indeed, but I saw it or something very similar to it ages ago on you tube. It feels too 'off the shelf' for my liking. 

[baron-pierreIV]

Indeed, it's not an original design and it has NOTHING to do with the flame.  It's just an extra appendage-ornament beside a flame.  

[illustrado]

flaming orbit with a nice background

[Buddy_LeChat]

1 hour ago, baron-pierreIV said:

Indeed, it's not an original design and it has NOTHING to do with the flame.  It's just an extra appendage-ornament beside a flame.  

From various sources around the web:

• Brazilian officials wanted this cauldron smaller than most, a reminder to reduce global warming caused by fossil fuels and greenhouse gases.
• Andrucha Waddington, one of the opening ceremony's creative directors, explained that the design (the kinetic structure) reflects the Olympic flame, which only requires a small amount of gas.

So the kinetic structure (aka The Sun) is there to reflect and amplify the cauldron's flame. And I do think it does job if pretty good way. The effect was awesome.

 

[Rob2012]

6 hours ago, daveypodmore said:

Its a beautiful thing indeed, but I saw it or something very similar to it ages ago on you tube. It feels too 'off the shelf' for my liking. 

I really don't mind it being off the shelf - I think that fits in very well with the recycle and reuse ecology concept which was a thread throughout the opening ceremony. But I do think it looks like two very seperate things put together - which it is - rather than a pleasing whole. Something less fiddly, like a big half-conical mirror would've reflected the small flame just as well without looking so separate from it.

It's good, but not great imvho.