Burning Man Unveils Renderings for 2023 Festival's Temple
Entitled “Temple of Heart.”
Every year, the Burning Man Festival takes over Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for nine days – and each year, the festival presents a new aesthetically and architecturally alluring structure to commemorate the much-anticipated event. The renderings for this year’s temple, “Temple of Heart”, have been revealed, showcasing an all-wood design spearheaded by designers Ela Madej and Reed Finlay.
Temple of Heart, which clocks in at a 40 feet height, is intended to mimic an “upside-down desert flower”, with the flower’s stem protruding skyward. The structure rests on a 12-pointed base and the stem shoots up 80 feet. Described as “a place for meditation and mourning”, the communal Temple of Heart features 640 porous wooden panels, each carved with different intricate flower patterns.
The Heart Chamber sits at the middle of the structure, housing the central column, which has been designed to be decorated; guests from all over the world are encouraged to adorn the column with flowers and greenery. See the renderings for this year’s temple in the gallery above.
While the temple is ultimately set to be burned at the end of the festival, the construction process is proving to be quite the timely task. Significant portions of the project are being crafted at the team’s facilities in Oakland, California, and then being transported to the festival grounds. It will then take another two weeks to construct the Temple of Heart on site. The festival is known for its anti-commercial approach and ethos, relying heavily on volunteering and fundraising for a majority of the festival’s design ventures.
Elsewhere in the design space, Chaoffice’s new “House Under the Boat” resembles a zen-infused study sanctuary.
