‘Essential’ Winter Olympic Torches by Carlo Ratti Associati – All photos are by Milano Cortina Olympics.

Design. At the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Japan, architect Carlo Ratti unveiled Essential, the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Torches. The designs were developed in collaboration with energy company Eni and chemicals company Versalis, with engineering by Cavagna Group.

• RELATED STORIES: Read more about the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Archipanic.

Made of recycled materials such as aluminium and brass alloy, the torches weigh around one kilogram and will carry the Olympic and Paralympic flames across northern Italy ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Games, scheduled for February 2026. The Olympic torch showcases a bluish-green hue inspired by Italy’s dynamic landscapes, while the Paralympic version features a deep amber colour.

“We wanted to strip away the superfluous. The brief was clear: the flame had to be the protagonist,” said Carlo Ratti, Founding Partner of CRA–Carlo Ratti Associates. “We started with a radical question: what if the torch almost disappeared? What if it stepped back so the flame could genuinely emerge? That became the guiding principle.”

Each torch is designed around its core—a high-performance burner—retaining only what is strictly necessary to support. “Minimalism, here, is more than an aesthetic; it’s a method and a statement against the superfluous as the foundation of true sustainability.”

The internal mechanism that ignites the flame is visible for the first time in Olympic design. A vertical slit along the torch’s body lets viewers see the burner in action—where fire is truly born.“This openness invites people to look through the object, not just at it.”

The burner is powered by bio-GPL produced from 100% renewable feedstocks—including used cooking oils and agro-industrial residues—at Eni’s Enilive biorefinery in Sicily. It creates a natural, warm yellow flame, unlike the colder blue tones often associated with fossil-based fuels. The result is a lively, natural fire that mirrors the original fire in Olympia, Greece.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games will take place from February 6 to 22, 2026, and the Paralympic Winter Games from March 6 to 15, 2026.

• Photos of Essential are courtesy of Milano Cortina 2026.