Galaxia

Burning Man Temple Crew 2018

The Burning Man Temple is one of the most significant places held annually at the Burning Man festival, 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.

Galaxia is shaped of 20 timber trusses converging as a spiral towards one point in the sky, designed by Arthur Mamou-Mani. The triangular trusses form different paths towards a central space holding a giant 3D printed mandala, the heart of Galaxia. The timber modules start large enough to hold small alcoves in which people can write in peace. As participants walk through the path, the timber modules lift up and become thinner and thinner towards the sky as people reach the central mandala.