Olympic Torch Design The prototype of the torch that will begin carrying the Olympic flame to Salt Lake City later this year was unveiled just yesterday in Washington.

The first Olympic torch relay, for the Berlin games in 1936, used a simple torch-- a plain metal base which held the stick on which burned the Olympic flame.

It was the first, and it did the job.

In the years since, each new Olympic torch has become an important symbol not only of the games but also of the places they are held.

The 2002 Olympic torch, unveiled yesterday, plays to 60 years of one-ups-manship.

Scott Givens/Creative Dir., Salt Lake Organizing Comm.: FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WE HAVE A PIECE OF GLASS, THAT'S ATOP THE TORCH. AND WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS THE FLAME EMMANATING FROM THE BASE OF THIS GLASS, AND COMING OUT OF THE TOP. AND YOU'LL GET THE SENSE OF LIGHT THE FIRE WITHIN. YOU SEE THE GLOW AND INSPIRATION COMING UP THROUGH IT.

To arrive at this icicle motif, SLOC turned to a design studio just a block down Main Street.

Brent Watts, Creative Director of Axiom Design, said in the creation of the torch, function follows form.

Brent Watts/Axiom Design: IT'S A SCULPTURE FIRST. BUT IT'S A PIECE OF ART. THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. AND THEN ITS FUNCTION IS THAT IT'S A FLAME. AND WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THOSE ISSUES NOW.

Watts and his design team had less than a month to create the torch. At first, they roughed out a dozen designs, before SLOC settled on this one.

A LOT OF THE TORCHES YOU'VE SEEN ARE VERY MACHINED AND VERY MAN MADE AND WE WANTED SOMETHING THAT SYBOLIZED A PIECE OF NATURE. SO IT'S VERY ORGANIZE IN ITS SHAPE. WE THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT TORCH.

IT'S A REAL HONOR TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH IT. AND WHAT IT REPRESENTS. IT REPRESENTS WHAT WE LIKE TO REPRESENT, AND THAT IS DOING THE BEST WORK.

Pyrotechnical engineers still must craft the inner workings of the torch, with a switch and gas canister that feeds the flame.