MIT Professor Designs Lightest, Greenest Olympic Torch Ever

The torch lighting the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan weighs less than a large bag of flour and represents a radical rethinking of what an Olympic symbol should be.

Carlo Ratti, a professor at MIT and native of Turin, Italy, designed "Essential" with a simple philosophy: let the flame shine, not the object. While previous Olympic torches featured elaborate decorations and ornamentation, Ratti stripped everything down to what actually matters.

The result is the lightest Olympic torch ever created at just under 2.5 pounds. It's made primarily from recycled aluminum and finished with a heat-resistant coating that shifts colors, reflecting the mountains and city lights it passes through.

But the real innovation lies in what you can't immediately see. The torch runs on bio-GPL fuel made from 100 percent renewable materials by energy company ENI. Previous Olympics required a new torch for each runner, but Ratti's design can be recharged 10 times, reducing the number of torches needed by 90 percent.

The design took three years of collaboration between researchers, engineers, and Olympic committees. Ratti approached it the same way he teaches students at MIT's Senseable City Lab: focus on how design touches people and transmits emotions, not just how it looks.

A vertical opening along the torch's side reveals the internal burner mechanism, keeping the emphasis on the sacred flame rather than hiding it beneath fancy packaging. This transparency embodies what Ratti calls "an ethos of frugality."

The torch began its journey in Olympia, Greece, in late November, lit using a parabolic mirror reflecting the sun's rays, just as ancient Greeks did. It has traveled through all 110 Italian provinces, carried by hundreds of volunteers, before arriving for the opening ceremony on February 6.

Why This Inspires

Ratti's torch proves that sustainability and beauty aren't opposites. By questioning assumptions about what an Olympic torch "should" look like, he created something that honors ancient tradition while embracing future-forward technology. The design won an honorable mention in Italy's most prestigious industrial design award, the Compasso d'Oro.

Ratti himself carried the torch through Turin in mid-January, bringing his creation full circle through the mountains where he learned to ski as a child. For someone who has designed pavilions for world expos and observation decks for global cities, this project let him showcase not just Italian heritage, but Italy's innovative future.

Sometimes the most powerful statement comes from stripping away everything unnecessary and letting what truly matters shine through.