Organizers of the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018, which will be held in March next year, are using the opportunity that comes with hosting a major sporting Championships to profile the city and celebrate some of Birmingham’s best known landmarks.
The official logo for the event, which will see around 400 athletes from about 150 countries competing at Arena Birmingham* in early March, was unveiled last year and includes a cityscape featuring a number of internationally recognisable buildings including the Rotunda, Selfridges and the Library of Birmingham but the latest landmark to be celebrated is the city’s Gravelly Hill Interchange or Spaghetti Junction as it’s more affectionately known.
The complex interchange is a source of inspiration for the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018’s ‘Supergraphic’ – a graphical element which will be central to the look and feel of the Championships, from posters and city dressing to publications and the event’s official website.
Councillor Ian Ward, Deputy Leader for Birmingham City Council and chair of the IAAF World Indoor Championship’s Executive Steering Group, said: “We want to use the opportunity of staging these Championships to showcase the city and celebrate some of Birmingham’s iconic buildings and structures. Historically Supergraphics have featured city landmarks or emblems, often highlighting historical, cultural or industrial aspects of the host city. We know that Spaghetti Junction can split opinions but it is synonymous with Birmingham, connecting both its residents and visitors to the heart of the UK and we’re proud to be represented by such an incredible feat of engineering.”
The ‘Supergraphic’, designed by Birmingham City Council’s corporate design team, is an aerial representation of what is one of the largest and most complex interchanges in Europe. It has been specially designed to capture the movement and undulating nature of the road network and it also represents the sporting journey that athletes will need to take to achieve success, a journey that is often complicated with highs and low and many twists and turns.
The Supergraphic also champions the event’s vibrant colour scheme and will become very familiar to city residents and athletics fans over the next 12 months, as the city gears up to hosting another global sporting event.
