Albertville 1992, torch

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, a designer was asked to create the torch: Frenchman Philippe Starck. The idea was to make this a rare and valuable object. Starck responded to the challenge with a design in stainless steel notable for its purity of form and aerodynamic lines. Starck created a torch-sculpture along lines familiar from his other work (toothbrush, door handle, vases in the Etrangetés series, etc.), using his favourite material.

This torch had to be resistant to all the weather conditions on the way and able to be carried by young people; it also had to conform to the overall visual identity of the relay (youth, dynamism, white and grey predominant). The burner worked on gas for safety reasons.

The torch, nicknamed “the horn”, weighs 1.4kg. The system is based on an ingenious 12-piece puzzle. Composed of half-shells, the main body of the torch is in stainless steel. A cowl, simply clipped to the body, and a ring inside onto which the burner is screwed make it easy and quick to change the gas container.