Client: Burning Man Project

Overview

The annual Burning Man event that creates Black Rock City on a dried lake bed in the Black Rock Desert has two consistent structures: the Man and the Temple. In 2018, Arthur Mamou-Mani was selected to realize his design for the Temple, “a sanctuary for all, no matter your religion, spiritual inclination, or lack thereof”.

Goals

The Burning Man Temple is one of the most significant places built annually at the Burning Man event, a portal for healing, sharing emotional experiences, creating profound connections with one’s own self and others and then watching it all burst into flames on the last day.

The temple is a special place, one for the community to pray, heal and release grief. It is a place for us to cry, together, over our losses, whether it is a loved one or your old self. The temple helps you reflect on these emotions and connects you to every one else in their sorrows and their hopes.

Galaxia celebrates hope in the unknown, stars, planets, black holes, the movement uniting us in swirling galaxies of dreams. A superior form of Gaia in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, Galaxia is the ultimate network, the fabric of the universe connecting living beings into one entity.

Process

As project manager of complex art for Burning Man Project, I worked with the artist and his team to define and design a structure that can work under the specific conditions and regulations of the remote Black Rock Desert National Conservation Area, public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and allowed under a Special Recreation Permit.