As we approach the one -year anniversary of Paris hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is interesting to revisit how the city dressed for the occasion – and how far Paris went making itself (its skyline, its streets, its cultural heritage) central to the Games experience.
Find here a photo essay about the Paris 2024 ‘Look of the City’ programme, which placed an emphasis on a pastel toned version of pink that drew inspiration from Art Deco and the city’s iconic sandstone and rooftops. This pink became known as the ‘Paris 2024’s signature rose’.
As a telling historical point of comparison: only Mexico 1968 used a soft version of pink as part of its Games colour palette – and, like Paris, it made it the dominant tone for its groundbreaking ‘Look of the Games’. Mexico 1968 was the Games edition that pioneered city dressing as a highlight of the Olympic hosting process and its urban legacy.
In all subsequent Games editions, colours tend to be bolder or stronger – with intense fuchsias, purples and reds dominating. Los Angeles 1984 and London 2012 are the two other Olympic cities to choose a variation of pink as their leading colour palette but, in both instances, going for very intense magentas.
In ‘The Olympic Design’, Markus Osterwalder visually summarises these colour ranges as follows:
Find my photo essay on Paris 2024 ‘signature rose’, here.
