AADTHU design team reveals story behind Asian Winter Games' lilac

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By Zhang Rui, Chen Qi, Zhou Jing (China.org.cn) 08:37, February 10, 2025

Amid ice and snow, a blazing flame atop a newly unveiled cauldron marked the opening of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on Feb. 7.

The torch tower was designed by teachers and students from the Academy of Arts &Design, Tsinghua University (AADTHU). The structure, a new landmark at the Harbin Ice and Snow World Park on Sun Island, now stands as a testament to months of dedication.

The cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Feb. 7, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)

Dean Ma Sai and Professor Fan Yinliang of the Department of Industrial Design described the cauldron as a source of pride, embodying creativity and conveying meaningful stories.

"The time was very tight; we had to submit the design within a couple of weeks," Ma recalled of the phone call he received from the Harbin Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee in mid-August. The committee invited the academy to participate in the main cauldron design tender, with submissions due by Aug. 31, 2024. Since it was summer vacation, Ma urgently convened video meetings with teachers and students scattered in various locations, and a team from the Department of Industrial Design began the project."

Guided by Professor Fan, a team of more than a dozen teachers and students quickly gathered information and elements related to the Asian Winter Games and Harbin's culture. Meeting nightly to brainstorm, they produced 10 detailed proposals within weeks.

The lilac-shaped cauldron plan, centered on Harbin's city flower, stood out from the proposals submitted by 12 bidding entities and won the competition on Sept. 24, 2024. The organizing committee approved the proposal on Oct. 2, and detailed design work began soon after.

The cauldron design team meets with a local installation company in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in December 2024. (Photo courtesy of AADTHU)

The design of the cauldron skillfully integrates regional culture with ice and snow sports to represent key themes of the Games. The lilac, with its resilient and elegant temperament, perfectly embodies the unyielding spirit of the people of Harbin. The crystalline snowflake, a symbol of Harbin as the "Ice City," represents purity, peace and passion for winter sports.

A hexagonal snowflake design forms the torch tower's base, which rises 28.55 meters to a three-dimensional, five-petal lilac blossom. The flowing lines create an elegant appearance.

A concept image of the "Snowy Charm of Lilac" torch tower. (Photo courtesy of AADTHU)

"Lilacs usually have four petals, while five-petal lilacs are very rare and thus seen as a symbol of luck," Ma explained. "From above, the lilac and snowflake create a concentric blooming effect, aligning with the Asian Winter Games slogan: 'Dream of Winter, Love among Asia.'"

At the top, a vivid Chinese red "pistil" serves as the finishing touch, composed of 56 gas nozzles representing China's 56 ethnic groups. Surrounding the nozzles are vertical ridges symbolizing the spirit of unity and moving forward together. When lit, flames cascade through the hollow lilac petals, creating a warm glow.

The design for cauldron head design of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin. (Photo courtesy of AADTHU)

Completing the design was only the first step; the real challenge was translating it into reality. To ensure a flawless opening ceremony, the cauldron had to be delivered and rehearsals started by the end of December 2024. In less than three months, the team overcame numerous challenges.

Achieving a perfect transition from the snowflake design at the base to the lilac blossom at the top of the torch tower 's outer surface was a major challenge, Fan said. The team had to carefully consider the torch tower's structure, the construction process, the materials used, and how much weight it could support.

He explained that the narrowest part of the torch tower was initially designed to be 1.3 meters wide, but manufacturing limitations meant they could only make the outer surface and central support 1.5 meters wide.

"For us, those 20 centimeters were crucial. It had to be narrowed; otherwise, the entire torch tower would be deformed," explained Fan.

To solve this, the team experimented repeatedly and found ways to compress the design. Eventually, they reduced the width of the outer surface to 1.26 meters, even narrower than the original plan, making the approximately 80-ton torch tower appear more lightweight and graceful.

The design team visits the construction site of the torch tower in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in December 2024, to assist with the building and installation work. (Photo courtesy of AADTHU)