XX Olympic Winter Games
Symbols of Torino 2006 Olympics
The Logo | The Torch | The Medals
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 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.
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 center, 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
center links all the basic themes and motifs of the Turin Games and embodies the
leitmotiv of Torino 2006 – the piazza. The medal is also round like the Olympic
rings or a symbolic victory ring and, with its open space at its center, 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 athlete’s
neck, lying on his chest, circling and revealing the area near his heart and
focusing attention on the athlete’s vital energy and human emotions.