Olympic torch reaches the home of SoVibrant!

At 2pm today the Olympic torch, which started on 19^th May in Lands End, finally reached Harrogate!  The torch was serenaded by busses blaring with music and energetic street dancers ... not to mention a huge crowd which had to be in the region of 5,000 people!  The atmosphere was incredible, hundreds of tourists and local businesses lined the streets with flags, horns and streamers.  A sight that certainly isn’t an every day affair in North Yorkshire!



 Above photographs taken in Harrogate

The flame has been working its way around some of our local areas today such as Boston Spa, Harewood (to be greeted by Princess Beatrice) and to Ripon.  It will later make it’s way through to York where the flame will take a train ride! It is due to board the Scots Guardsman at the National Railway Museum in York at the end of the day, ready for the final leg of its journey through the county on Wednesday.

Above photograph taken in Boston Spa

Above photograph taken in Knaresborough

Above photograph taken in Harrogate

Although I only saw the flame for a few seconds, it was definitely worth being a part of a historic moment, not just nationally but worldwide. 

Above photograph taken in Harrogate

www.sovibrant.co.uk

Olympic Torch 2012

2012 Olympic Torch wins design award

Congratulations to UK design studio, Barber Osgerby, who have won the Design Museum's prestigious Design of the Year 2012 award for their Olympic Torch.

The torch is set to commence its UK tour on May the 19th and is perforated with 8000 holes to represent the number of torch bearers involved (rather than a comment on the locations it will be visiting!).

 

I think it's an elegant design that combines a modern aesthetic with a traditional form,  but critics have (I think harshly) compared it to a cheese grater, a waste paper bin and a cigarette holder.

The gorgeous Olympic Velodrome, designed by Hopkins Architects, picked up the Architecture award and is also hotly tipped for the industry's top award, The Stirling Prize:

Design at SoVibrant www.SoVibrant.co.uk

Images courtesy of Sky Sports and Google

Global Rainbow - Yvette Mattern

New York artist Yvette Mattern's art installation 'Global Rainbow' has been recently showcased at several locations around the British Isles as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, a series of events in the run up to the Olympic Games. The piece is intended to 'encompass geographical and social diversity in its reach to symbolise hope.' (Mainly it makes me really want to listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.)

The Global Rainbow has previously visited France, Germany and the United States having been initially conceptualised to celebrate Martin Luther King Day in 2009. 

www.sovibrant.co.uk