Thomas Heatherwick: 'Britain is a cauldron of creativity'

The man behind the dramatic Olympic cauldron said the innovative design showed what British creatives could do for Britain if asked.

Thomas Heatherwick, 42, who lives and works in King’s Cross, said the imaginative approach used by his eponymous design studio could be harnessed for practical ends by hospitals to schools if politicians had the courage to work with the creative community.

The designer said ceremony director Danny Boyle was keen to connect the Games with the people.

“With cauldrons, they have seemed to get bigger and bigger, and the spirit Danny was speaking about with his ceremony was to do with connecting more with people and rooting things, rather than them just being up in the air like a dream in the sky,” he said. So they shunned the cauldron on the roof and it was brought centre stage. They thought imaginatively and ambitiously in designing the most complicated cauldron ever built. “What Britain has always been good at is to think of new ideas and be idiosyncratic,” Mr Heatherwick said. “It was a real honour to have the chance to help London’s Olympics. It was the chance to think about what Britain is.

“Are we going to keep pushing the idea of bowler hats and postboxes and the Tower of London or emphasise the reality that some of the most ingenious people on the planet are based here, innovating in business, innovating in art and every possible area? There are some really creative designers and architects working in Britain and often we’re having to go to other parts of the world because Britain so often misses the opportunity to harness us.

“It has been wonderful to show what my team and myself can do for the benefit of Britain. There are so many things that could be better, whether it’s hospitals or schools or streets.” He said it was a pleasure to be able to discuss the cauldron after having to keep it a secret for almost two years: “But no one guessed. I was really surprised. You think everybody else will work it out. But then suddenly there was this huge gasp from these 80,000 people.

“It’s a moment I will never forget. I’ve never been so moved by a project. The tears were rolling down my face.”

THE PETALS

“We wondered if every country could bring a little piece, because each country is bringing a contribution to the Games, and it is the combination of all those that creates something bigger. Every single one of those copper objects is unique. We spent thousands of hours designing each one, because the cauldron is not just some sort of prop, and it needed to be meaningful by itself.”