Up-Close Look at the ‘Essential’ Torch Used at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics torch, dubbed “Essential,” is a quiet game changer in an object that has been passing the flame around the world for decades. Carlo Ratti, the architect, approached the project with a question in mind: how does an object transmit emotion? His instruction was to pare down to the bare essentials and let the flame do the talking.

So his team set out to reduce the size of the holder while keeping the fire as the main attraction. A little slot runs along the side of the object, allowing viewers to have a good look at the burner mechanism and see the fire burning away inside. As the torch moves from person to person, they get to experience the entire thing come to life.

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The materials Ratti picked felt quite restrained, since the body is comprised of recyclable aluminum with a bit of brass tossed in; it weighs just under 2.5 pounds, making it the lightest Olympic torch ever produced. That was no small effort given that all of the usual suspects were involved: engineers, Olympic committees, and sponsor Versalis all worked together over three years to perfect the design. They even included a fancy heat-resistant coating that makes the torch look like the Italian skies on a sunny day, as opposed to the Paralympic torch, which has a gold finish, but both of them have this lovely quality where the light bounces off and appears to change in the light, similar to how the mountains or city lights reflect back at you.

Sustainability is the name of the game here, as the torch is powered by a special, bio-friendly kind of gas manufactured from sustainable materials, courtesy of ENI. Instead of burning out after a single use, this torch can be recharged up to ten times, requiring fewer of them in the first place, which is better for the environment. The flame, however, remains as steady as a rock, even when the wind is howling, it is raining, or you are stuck up a mountain, and it all began in Olympia, Greece, then traveled to Italy, where it toured all 110 provinces before eventually arriving in Milan for the big ceremony on February 6th.

The clean lines and exquisite shape reflect the Italian design history. Ratti describes it as sleek, extended, and appears to be constructed of almost nothing at all due to the body’s receding shape. The flame simply pokes out at you and pulls your attention straight to it, as it should, emphasizing its function as a symbol of all that is good in the world, including togetherness, friendship, and people working together.