Opening date:
10 Feb. 2006
Closing date:
26 Feb. 2006
Country of the host city:
Italy
Candidate cities:
Helsinki (FIN), Klagenfurt (AUT), Poprad-Tatry (SVK), Sion (SUI), Zakopane (POL)
The 2006 Olympic Winter Games emblem portrays the unmistakable silhouette of the Mole Antonelliana. It is transformed into a mountain, among crystals of ice, where the white snow meets the blue sky. The crystals come together to form a web: the web of new technologies and the eternal Olympic spirit of communion among peoples.
The Piazza
The medal concept was worked upon by Ottaviani International and the TOROC graphic team, headed by Dario Quatrini. The medal is round with an empty space at the centre, representing the Italian piazza. The medal will be wrapped up in its ribbon, which, unlike in previous Games, will not be sewn to its top. The front of the medal will include the graphic elements of the Games, while the back of the medal will feature the pictogram of the sports discipline in which the medal was won. To highlight the three-dimensional characteristics of the medal, its surface has been carefully made using full and empty spaces, with shiny and satiny textures.
Italian History
Quatrini, who created the design for the medals, incorporated views, ideas and models from Italian history and its tradition of forms and manufacturing: rings, ancient coins and ornaments. The solution of the circle with the space at the centre links all the basic themes and motifs of the Turin Games and embodies the leitmotiv of Torino 2006 â the piazza. The medal is also round like the Olympic rings or a symbolic victory ring and, with its open space at its centre, it reveals the place where the heart beats, the symbol of life itself. The medal is only complete, however, when it is hanging geometrically from the athleteâs neck, lying on his chest, circling and revealing the area near his heart and focusing attention on the athleteâs vital energy and human emotions.
"Neve": she is a gentle, kind and elegant snowball; "Gliz": he is a lively, playful ice cube. They are the two symbolic characters of the XX Olympic Winter Games. They complement each other and personify the very essence of winter sports.
The mascots were born from the pencil of Pedro Albuquerque, a 38-year old Portuguese designer who won the international competition launched by the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games in Turin (TOROC) on 25 March 2003. He was inspired by his passion for water and the incredible shapes this element takes on when it is transformed into snow or ice; by his research into the Italian spirit and the places hosting the Olympic Games; by the Olympic values; and by the technical characteristics of the various sporting disciplines of the Games.
"Neve" and "Gliz" reflect the spirit of the Italian Olympic event: passion, enthusiasm, culture, elegance, and love of the environment and of sport. They are the symbol of a young generation that is full of life and energy.
The style concept behind the design is innovative: it is a modern reinterpretation of the traditional torch made of wood; the flame envelopes the body of the torch, instead of coming out of a hole on top, as has been the case in the past.
An advanced technological instrument, the Torch was designed according to specific criteria and prerequisites; it is 770 mm high, has a diameter of 105 mm and weighs 1.850 kg. It cannot be re-lit and it must not go out even in bad weather conditions such as rain, snow and wind.
The flame of each torch, which burns for 15 minutes, must not be higher than 10 centimetres. As for the materials used, the outside shell is made of aluminium; the inside fittings are of steel, copper and techno-polymers, and for the surface finish, a special paint is used that is resistant to high temperatures.
