I went for the Art, for a vague sense of the ?hip-cool? countercultural presence there.
The sun rises over a cold and dusty Playa … we are riding hard against the wind,

which kicks up the ever present dust,

and we have to put our goggles and bandanas on.

It is an extremely harsh environment of epic proportions.

The dust is like a poetic mist,

wherein surrealistic objects appear out of nowhere

then disappear just as quickly.
One might ask what this has to do with architecture"
The Catacomb of Veils, a large and lyrical art piece built in the Nevada desert during Burning Man 2016, from the artistic vision of architect Dan Sullivan.
As architects, we strive to create buildings and cities that have a high degree of vibrancy, authenticity, and a strong sense of community. We desire an engaged population that not only loves their environment, but also participates in its creation, and in its ongoing evolution. Ideally this vibrancy extends across the full range of socio-economic strata, so that every-one participates and enjoys these benefits. As architects, we contribute the physical structures that contain the workings of humanity, but more importantly we contribute our own creativity and imagination to imbue emotional meaning, which in turn adds to the energy and excitement of the community. This is our goal set, a lofty and noble dream. When we broadly look at what gets built by architects, we can sometimes fall short of these objectives. Burning Man, on the ...