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Inside the creation and demise of the Temple of Together at Burning Man 2024

2024-09-11T07:00:00-04:00

With Burning Man 2024 concluded, organizers have shared imagery depicting the building, use, and ultimate demise of the event’s main temple. Designed by Caroline “Glitter Kitty” Ghosn, the Temple of Together was inspired by Lebanese Khaizaran chairs and the artist’s own decades-long battle with multi-generational trauma and illness.

Image credit: Rand Larson

The design of the temple seeks to portray “the light that emerges when we come together with all parts of ourselves and with the oneness we share with all living things.” The leading motif of the temple is the representation of two hands coming together in prayer, symbolizing a common gesture of unity, humility, and respect to almost all spiritual traditions.

Image credit: Rand Larson

The gesture of unity is depicted literally by the two hands creating the temple’s entrance archway, but also in a more abstract sense through neo-Gothic pointed arches repeated throughout the design, ...

Burning Man unveils first-ever Black Rock City Temple design from female BIPOC lead artist

2024-02-13T12:34:00-05:00

Burning Man’s official 2024 Temple for Black Rock City has been unveiled as an optimistic design rising to a height of 70 feet and shrowded in a woven latticed screen cladding with repeated neo-Gothic archways that carry a metaphor of togetherness amidst a backdrop of global conflict.

The design took its charge from notable past iterations from David Best and will be called 'Temple of Together' as denoted by its repeated motif of hands touching in unison. Burner Caroline “Glitter Kitty” Ghosn was the Lead Artist chosen for her design, which is inspired by Lebanese Khaizaran chairs and her battle with multi-generational trauma and illness.

Temple of Together by Caroline Ghosn. Design rendering by Maissa Sader

Organizers say: “We look for a design that is novel, yet still fits within the Burning Man Temple tradition of being a treasured sanctuary ...

Burning Man reveals first physical temple design post-Covid

2023-02-02T12:52:00-05:00

The annual temple design to feature in this year’s Burning Man festival has been announced: The "Temple of the Heart" concept is designed by Polish-born, San Francisco-based entrepreneur Ela Madej with the help of her co-lead Reed Finlay and will be the festival’s first physical temple since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic three years ago.

In a blog post, Burning Man's creative team said: "Selecting the Temple for Black Rock City is a uniquely challenging decision. We look for a design with a strong visual impact that can serve as a meaningful space to hold the full range of our community’s experiences and offerings. There are both conceptual and practical considerations. Is the Temple creative and beautiful enough to be an artwork in and of itself but simple enough that it doesn’t get in the way or dictate an experience? Will it burn well, and safely? Have the applicants planned for LNT, and considered sustainability in their design and execution?"

A sketch of the temple courtes...

Populous' Field of Dreams park is this year's Ballpark of the Year winner

2021-09-09T17:58:00-04:00

The corn-fed Iowa baseball stadium constructed by Populous for this year’s thrilling Field of Dreams game has been named the winner of the coveted Baseballparks.com “Ballpark of the Year” award that began in the year 2000.

The pop-up stadium joins HOK’s Las Vegas Aviators stadium and San Diego’s Petco Park as winners of the magazine’s annual award. Founder Joe Mock explained that this year’s crop had represented the deepest field he’d seen since 2009, the year the new Yankee Stadium opened at a then-record cost of $1.5 billion.

Rendering courtesy Populous.

After some delays, the $6 million stadium was able to be completed in time for the August match-up between the Yankees and the White Sox that ended when superstar Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson sent a walk-off home run into the 12-foot-tall corn stalks behind the right-field fence.

“[We] were privileged to design the Field of Dreams Ballpark and bring the magic and poetry of the iconic film to life,” Populous senior principal Todd...

If you build it: MLB's corny new pop-up stadium gets center stage tonight in Iowa

2021-08-12T16:20:00-04:00

The game will mark the first Major League Baseball game ever held in the State of Iowa. MLB built a temporary ballpark adjacent to the movie site, with a potential capacity of up to 8,000 fans, and here are the latest photos, courtesy MLB.

Major League Baseball coordinated with commercial landscaping firm BrightView and a “creative experience company” called BaAM Productions to reshape the 159-acre former movie set in Dyersville, Iowa. The site is known to be a popular tourist destination drawing up to 100,000 visitors in a given year.

BrightView’s Murray Cook told the Des Moines Register he felt the result has a similar feel to old Comiskey Park, the legendary southside stadium that the White Sox team at the center of the “Black Sox” controversy covered by the film. "Obviously this one's in a cornfield," he added. Cook had consulted with MLB on previous pop-up venues at Fort Bragg and Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the home of the Little League World Series.

The new Field of Dreams complex was completed in time for the announced Yankees-White Sox 2020 game date, which was pushed back a year because of COVID-19. Local NBC affiliate KWWL has a pregame walkthrough of the field here.

School soccer field in King County will house 200 bed temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients

2020-03-19T11:49:00-04:00

A temporary field hospital for use by people unable to isolate and recover from COVID-19 in their own homes will be located at a soccer field in Shoreline, a city spokesman said. The Shoreline Temporary Field Hospital, at 19030 First Ave N.E., will provide up to 200 beds, according to the city’s website. It will house “people exposed to, at risk of exposure, or becoming ill with the novel coronavirus..."

According to The Seattle Times, the hospital will be on a turf soccer field that is on a school district property that is leased to the city. King County is creating temporary field hospitals at a number of locations for people who cannot remain in their homes or do not have a home, The Seattle Times reports.

A look at the must-see structures of Burning Man 2019

2019-08-29T20:55:00-04:00

Images from this year's Burning Man have emerged!

According to the Burning Man official website, "Burning Man is not a festival! It's a city wherein almost everything that happens is created entirely by its citizens, who are active participants in the experience."

Whether you plan on experiencing the festival for yourself, or just here for the eye candy, see below for some of the most notable sculptures and installation pieces from Burning Man 2019.

View this post on Instagram The temple is absolutely stunning this year... #Brutalism #BurningMan #Pixel3XL #NightSight #nofilter
A post shared by Myriam Joire (@tnkgrl) on Aug 29, 2019 at 3:42pm PDT
View this post on Instagram Your greatest Breakthrough is only found once you push past your deepest moments of challenge. Building the Pulse Portal with a broken foot for a week in the desert was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣I lost my crew and friends, I found ...

The new vacation rental company investing in contemporary architecture and creative placemaking

2019-02-01T15:00:00-05:00

For Joanna Dawes, the desire to create temporary spaces in unsuspecting places is twofold. Influenced by the opportunities caravans and mobile homes have inspired, Dawes finds that ephemeral dwellings not only allow the chance to explore different landscapes, but also promise exciting new designs, materials and construction techniques.

"This is about exploring new structures, experimenting with new and sustainable materials, and building intimacy with our landscapes for a brief period of time," Dawes explains to me as we discuss Land Stories, a non-profit initiative and vacation rental service that places contemporary architecture in stunning landscapes. The goal, says Dawes, is to foster constructive dialogues about what architecture and design can bring to one's experience of a place as well as the landscape itself.

Launched this year, Land Stories will open up its first dwelling, the Lantern, this spring. Designed by the London-based studio Emulsion— whom have worked with Dawes...

Carme Pinós designs an origami-inspired MPavilion for Melbourne

2018-07-02T14:00:00-04:00

Earlier this year, Barcelona-based architect Carme Pinós was selected as the designer for the 2018 MPavilion, and now we've also received first renderings of the origami-like temporary structure in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens.

Rendering. Image courtesy of MPavilion.

"The design for MPavilion 2018 is an open geometric configuration assembled in two distinct halves supported by a central steel portal frame," reads the project description. "Two surfaces of timber latticework intersect with each other to form the pavilion’s roof. An altered topography forms three mounds that incorporate seating, allowing a multitude of community-focused experiences: dynamic, spontaneous and collective. Pinós’s design has inspired MPavilion’s program themes which include: building communities, fostering inclusive cities, women in leadership, visual languages: fashion and architecture, regional contexts, and landscape and nature."

Rendering. Image courtesy of MPavilion.

"Like an origami folding, two...

Inaugural Serpentine Pavilion Beijing opens to the public

2018-06-01T18:04:00-04:00

The first Serpentine Pavilion co-commissioned and built outside the UK has opened its figurative doors in Beijing this week.

Designed by JIAKUN Architects, the temporary structure is the result of a collaboration between London's Serpentine Galleries and WF CENTRAL in Beijing. First renderings of the structure, which draws inspiration from Confucianism mimicking the figure of an archer, were unveiled earlier this year.

From the project description: "The Serpentine Pavilion Beijing will be a public space for cultural activities, events and social encounters at the very heart of WF CENTRAL, with a programme of cultural activities programmed across five Pavilion Weekends over the summer."

"With a focus on society, community and vernacula...