2019 SEA Games cauldron
| Location | New Clark City Sports Hub, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines |
|---|---|
| Designer | Francisco Mañosa |
| Height | 12.5 metres (41 ft) |
| Completion date | 2019 |
| Dedicated to | 2019 Southeast Asian Games |
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games cauldron is a structure at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines and was made for the 30th Southeast Asian Games with National Artist Francisco Mañosa responsible for the design. It was lit for the Opening Ceremony of the regional games which was held at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
₱55 million was spent for the cauldron.[1]
Design
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games cauldron including its backdrop and podium was designed by Mañosa & Co. Inc. (MCI) of Filipino architect and National Artist Francisco Mañosa. Mañosa himself was involved in the design porcess despite him already in poor health and in early stages of dementia when his family firm was approached by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) in January 2019 to design a cauldron for the games.Despite unable to draw by that time, Mañosa was able to give direction regarding the design of the cauldron verbally. The architect viewed videos of Olympic cauldron on YouTube as part of the design process and concluded that the 2019 Southeast asian Games cauldron "must be Filipino" and directed his firm to look into his original design for the unbuilt Centennial Tower which was inspired from the sulo, a traditional Filipino torch. MCI presented two other designs to the PHISGOC. PHISGOC selected the design which was made by Mañosa himself. MCI did not disclose which among the three proposals were made by Mañosa beforehand.[2]
The cauldron's design consists of the following:[2]
- Three main pillars which represents the Philippines' main island groupings; Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao
- 17 sub-pillars for the 17 regions of the country
- 11 segments in the tower and 11 steps on the podium for the 11 countries participating at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
The cauldron was originally planned to be 32 meters (105 ft) high so that the flame would be visible from inside the Athletics Stadium but the planned height was reduced to 12.5 meters (41 ft). The cauldron was elevated by a podium. A foreign company was responsible for cauldron the flame mechanism.[2]
Construction
MCI supervised the construction of the cauldron ensuring that its design for the structure was followed. Different firms were contracted for the construction of the podium, the fabrication of the tower, and the cauldron iself.[2]
Reception
Days leading to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games the construction of the cauldron was met with criticism. Senator Franklin Drilon pejoratively called the cauldron a kaldero (lit. 'cooking cauldron, in Filipino') questioning the cost of the structure saying the money spent for it could have been used to build 50 classrooms. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who is also the chairman of the organizing comittee of the games defended the cauldron as "priceless work of art" and pointed out that the cauldron used in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore was more expensive at ₱63 million.[1] President Rodrigo Duterte expressed belief that there was no corruption involved in building the cauldron.[3]
References
- ^ a b Luna, Franco (18 November 2019). "Cost of SEA Games cauldron 'proportional to newer, bolder character of the Filipino' — Salceda". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d Caruncho, Eric (1 December 2019). "The 'kaldero' was '100-percent' Bobby Mañosa's last design". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Duterte: No corruption in construction of SEA Games cauldron". The Philippine Star. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.