And then it was time for the long waited opening ceremony of the 2012 games. I was looking forward to it, as I knew it was directed by famous British film director Danny Boyle. I was not sure what it meant, but I had high expectations for it. The ceremony focused on British history and was highly criticised. In a way, that is a very superficial way to look at it. Volunteers from all over were involved, recalling the slogan of this edition of the games: inspiring a generation. Many also made the mistake of comparing it to Beijing's opening. The two events had very different aims and different themes, they were held in two completely different countries. The ceremony held here, in London, was closer to a play or a musical, with modular sets, actors and singers. Beijing's aimed at a more spectacular approach, with drums, lighting effects and beautiful choreographies.

Above: a shot from the Beijing ceremony, 2000 drummers play creating a light choreography.

The ceremony went through the history of England in the first half, starting out from farms, then covering the Industrial Revolution, until today. Afterwards there was a bit in the middle with sketches and gigs by famous british actors and bands. And then, the grand finale. After all the participating Nations were introduced, Thomas Heatherwick made them all part of his sculpture-cauldron: the copper petals that represented the participating Nations, and that each of them carried, were placed on top of metal stems. And at the end, the stems closed, finally creating the olympic cauldron.

Above: Mr Bean and our adventurous Queen.

Above: the set switching from countryside to industrial, until one of the olympic ring is forged.

Above: Thomas Heatherwick's cauldron.

As much as I enjoyed the first part, the cauldron was the most meaningful thing in the ceremony. Many criticised it saying that the past ones were better or more interesting, but I just cannot agree on this one. The union of the petals, representing different Nations, summed up beautifully the meaning of the Olympics. The sculpture blooming, symbolizing the beginning of the games. After an entertaining, yet very british and patriotic beginning, something that brought back the real spirit of this event, was needed.

Walking by the Victoria Tower gardens, I ran into, for the first time, Wenlock and Mandeville, the two official mascots, representing respectively the Olympics and the Paralympics. The sculptures of the two characters stood in two different spots of the garden. They had a high-tech look and a dynamic pose. Doing some research I found out more, but I did not gain interest until I saw them again, scattered around Southbank. This time around, having had the chance of seeing them in different “clothes”, I became more curious.

In the picture: Mandeville, Wenlock and Mandeville again.

The surface of the sculptures, in fact, were covered in patterns representing different parts of London. This is a very effective way to link the Olympic games to the City, since the aim is to make everyone feel equally part of this big event. They follow a style that I have previously seen in London: only a few months ago easter egg sculptures were installed all over London, all with a different pattern or theme. Something similar was done with cow sculptures and phone cabins.

This is Wenlock, covered in a pattern of fish, jellyfish and other sea creatures. It is front of Sea Life, the biggest aquarium in London.

The picture above shows one of the cabins that were placed around London last month.

The two mascots were designed by Iris, a creative agency based in London. Searching deeper into the nature of their design, I found out there is a lot of symbolism and a deep meaning behind the two characters, starting out from their name. Wenlock is named after the Wenlock Olympian games, which are held annually in Munch Wenlock, England, since 1850. The name Mandeville, the Paralympic mascot, comes from the name of a Hospital that since World War II takes care of military injuries.



Wenlock, in a victory pose, across Westminster. 

Wenlock wears 5 friendship bracelets each representing a different continent, following the style of the olympic rings. Mandeville's head resembles a helmet featuring the colours associated with the Paralympics logo.



Some of the egg-shaped scultures that were displayed all over London for the egg hunt, last easter. At the end of the hunt, the eggs, all designed by different artists, were sold at an auction, and the profit was granted to charity.

A series of short animations was also made starring Wenlock and Mandeville. It shows the story of our heroes from their origin, including their meanings. It starts off with a grandfather retiring from the steel company he works at. Before leaving he picks up some leftover steel from a part made for the stadium. This is the metal that he then uses to forge Wenlock and Mandeville, which he will later give to his grandson and granddaughter. The quality of the animation is no Pixar, and a little too Care Bears style; but overall the writer, Michael Morpungo, put together a cute and catchy story that shows the true aim of the two characters: inspiring a generation.

A year ago I visited an exciting exhibition by Anish Kapoor in Milan. I thought especially the steel structures were very interesting, from an aesthetic point of view as well as interactive: I really enjoyed the sound effects they created when walking through them. The metal had a beautiful rough finish that worked very nicely with the coal that covered part of it, as well as within the space where the exhibition was being held, an old factory.

I was very surprised when I ran into the ArcelorMittal Orbit online. It is the largest piece of art in Britain and it was designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. The cost of 19.1 million was mostly covered by the richest man in the UK, Lakshmi Mittal, owner of the giant ArcelorMittal steel company, which is where the name of the tower comes from.

50 projects were presented, and this one was chosen to be London's Eiffel tower, a new landmark for the city, and something we will always associate with the Olympics the same way the Eiffel Tower is associated to Paris' 1889 World's fair . The idea was to celebrate the union of architecture and art. What I have an issue with is the “observation” bit. As it is, to me, it looks just like an observation tower with leftover pieces of roller-coaster attached to it. This has nothing to do with the clever installation I saw in Milan. What I find even more frustrating, is the original concept drawing, where the curves flows beautifully compared to the actual final piece.

The building was highly criticised for similar reason to the ones I stated above, but what made an even greater fuss, is the ethic history behind the steel company ArcelorMittal. In 2004, ArcelorMittal acquired a steel mine in Bosnia, near Prijedor, where 12 years earlier, in summer 1992, a concentration camp was set up to detain over 7000 Bosniaks, Bosnian muslims. Being still a deep, open wound for the relatives of the victims, the population of the area was reluctant at first: what convinced them was the promise that a monument will be erected in memory of those 8000 that lost their lives during the Srebrenica massacre. The project was left off when the ArcelorMittal one begun, which means that the ArcelorMittal tower is now a constant (massive and roller-coastery) reminder of what happened in those concentration camps.

As I mentioned in my previous post about Lego's interactive installation at the Southbank centre, the Olympics brought along a lot of art and design: some of which may be remembered in history as landmarks of the 2012 Olympics. London, being one of the most beautiful and advanced cities in the world, there were great expectations regarding the organization of the games, also from a design point of view. And where big expectations arrive, big let downs come along.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit, Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre, the two mascots of the games Wenlock and Mandeville, the logo, and the opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle: they were all highly criticised on different aspects.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit was given so many negative and witty nicknames that I am not even going to try to come up with a new one. My favourite of these nicknames being “eyeful tower”. The seats disposition of Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre did not allow the spectators a good view. Wenlock and Mandeville were described as the fruit of a “drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and Dalek”. A bit harsh in my opinion, but nevertheless hilarious. Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was at once celebrated, and harshly criticized as “boring”, “too much about england, not enough about the olympics” and “a disappointment and a shame”.

When designing for such a large audience, it is impossible to please all. Every country has different expectations and different point of views. Personally, I am quite happy with most of the designs, although I did face some disappointments.

The first Olympics-related design I ran into, was the official Logo, as a 3-D version of it was placed in Trafalgar square to keep a countdown to the opening day of the Olympics.

The graffiti-like logo is supposed to recall the shape of the city of London. The designer, Wolff Olins, avoided any landmark as the aim was to make everyone feel equally part of the Olympics.

The design received an 80% negative response from the public and an inappropriate assumption regarding the meaning of the shape. The font used, Headline 2012, features in Simon Garfield's article The 8 worst fonts in the world; and Iran threatened boycott the games claiming that it spelled the word “Zion”. It is incredible how much fuss 4 (ugly) shapes put together can raise.

I then looked at past Olympics logos, and honestly, they are not much better, and at least this logo is simple, recognizable and has a deep meaning. The identity of the 2012 Olympics was built around it, on the streets, the tickets, the gadgets, everything lead to the games. In a way it does represent London, an edgy, dynamic and multi-ethnic city. All features that perfectly describe an Olympics host.

The 2012 Olympics are going to turn London inside out and flip it upside down: buses on diversion, Olympic routes and thousands of tourists from all over the world. For these 2 weeks, London is going to be very different.

Walking along the Thames, I also realized that this big event is going to cause an art and design burst out: this is going to be the chance for artists and designers to exhibit their work, knowing that thousands of people will see it.

The Festival of the World, sponsored by MasterCard, will be held in Southbank from June till August to celebrate the 2012 Olympics by displaying a series of art pieces from all over the World and organizing events that will transform the Southbank centre into a cultural space that brings together kids and adults.

Lego took part into this celebration of life: for the next three weeks kids and adults will get to play Lego in a very innovative and clever way at the Southbank centre. The aim is to create the map of the world out of Lego, like a giant lego jigsaw, and to which everyone is allowed to take part into!

Several tables are set up and on top of them, bowls of single pieces of Lego sorted according to the color are laid out. Around them, tons of small people ready to take their job very seriously.

Each kid is given a plain lego tablet, and a piece of paper with the scheme.

Well, not only kids... My friend and I gave it a go too.

Once the pieces are done, they are ready to be laid out along with the others.The map will be composed of 4000 pieces. Lego did a great job by creating an interactive event that involves both kids and adults into a clever game.