A torch with three major elements that capture Chicago’s strength and spirit — Lake Michigan, the city’s parks and its breathtaking skyline — will be the “rallying cry” for Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Mayor Daley and his Olympic point-man Pat Ryan unveiled the logo Thursday at a news conference in the most dramatic of settings: the stage of the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park that may someday host medal ceremonies if the mayor’s Olympic dream comes true.
The Olympic theme song was playing before the mayor and Ryan took the stage. The logo designed by Chicago-based VSA Partners was unveiled to a round of applause.
The logo is in the shape of a torch, minus the Olympic rings that are a no-no at this stage for any competing city. The red-to-orange-to-gold flame is an amalgam of the Chicago skyline with the Sears Tower in the middle. It reflects Chicago’s world-renowned architecture and, what Daley calls the “great energy” of a city that rose from the ashes of the 1871 Chicago Fire.
The blue-to-green handle of the torch reflects Lake Michigan and Chicago’s park system, including Millennium Park, which has become a magnet for tourists. The handle underscores the city’s commitment to the environment.
The entire logo reflects Chicago’s commitment to host what Ryan calls a “compact and central” Olympic games focused on the “athlete experience.”
“Our plan takes advantage of our lakefront, our parks, our neighborhoods and, of course, our passion for sports. The logo that we have developed represents all of that,” said Ryan, chairman of Chicago 2016.
Daley said he expects the new logo to start “showing up all around” Chicago, starting with the Oct. 22 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, where 27 Olympians will be participating. Chicago is competing with Los Angeles and San Francisco for the right to become the United States Olympic Committee’s choice before the IOC.
“There’s a great deal more work to be done. There’s no guarantee of success. But, I know that this new logo is an important step in the process. It does an excellent job of connecting Chicago with the Olympic movement,” he said.
Dana Arnett, a VSA Partners principal who helped design the logo, said he was trying to create a “memorable symbol the city can rally around” that inspires people to “get on the bandwagon.” “We call it the beacon….It has the look of a torch, but we feel that the city and all it stands for is a beacon for international attention,” Arnett said.
“The coming together of the lakefront, green space and architecture was a natural inspiration…We also took inspirational color cues from the Olympic color pallet, the rings. The tricky part is you can’t use the rings at this stage.”
Another VSA principal, Jamie Koval, said, “The plan is to host the games in the heart of Chicago. [The logo] is really meant to represent the water, the green space and this beautiful city.”
Last month, Chicago’s Olympic bid took a dramatic turn when Daley announced plans to build a collapsible, 95,000-seat Olympic stadium in historic Washington Park that would house track and field events and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Two days later, Ryan took the wraps off the city’s entire venue plan. It calls for athletic venues to be concentrated in four neighborhoods — Lincoln Park, Burnham Park, Washington Park and University Village — with a $1 billion Olympic Village on prime land now used as an ugly truck staging area for McCormick Place.
Before flying off to London and Athens to learn from the Olympic bidding and/or hosting experience of those cities, Daley and Ryan once again shed no light on how they intend to pay for the $300 million stadium — except to reiterate that it will not involve public money.
When Ryan was pressed to point to an Olympic stadium that had been funded entirely by private investors, he smiled and said, “Well, we’ll have to give you the first example.”
Source:
http://www.suntimes.com
