Keeping with the theme of having one of the first 'green' Olympics, the theme of recycling and using sustainable materials is echoed in the creation and design of the Olympic Medals & Podiums.
The podiums are made of more than 200 pieces of wood and each podium's wood comes from a specific location in British Columbia. There are 23 podiums in all. They are shaped to resemble Vancouver Island. They were assembled at the Rona Fabrication Shop.
Each medal has a unique design and if all medals are laid side-by-side they would create a truly one-of-kind piece of art. I love the way they look and have a slight wave as part of the design. The material for the medals is reclaimed from the recycling of electronic items such as televisions and computers.
The victory floral bouquests for the medal ceremonies posed another challenge the partnership faced was satisfying VANOC’s sustainability criteria for the flowers: certified organically grown, non-invasive and native to Canada. This was a problem. “Just about everything in the bouquet is grown here in the summer,” explained Schulz. “But not in February.” As well the bouquets had to meet the design and durability expectations of VANOC’s design team.
After three months of design discussions with VANOC, and extensive research, the group settled on locally grown greenhouse flowers and greens imported from sustainable farms in Ecuador. The air transportation associated with the imported flowers will be offset as part of VANOC’s carbon management program. And even the packaging and wrapping around the bouquets are sourced according to sustainability principals. For more information go to Vancouver 2010.
I'm not especially keen on the podiums (maybe the pictures don't do it justice?) and I think the 'flowers' look completely silly (broccoli anyone?) but I really like the design of the medals!
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