Burning Man Unveils 2023 ‘Temple Of The Heart’, An Upside-Down Desert Flower
Festival-goers can feel their emotional battery bloom when Burning Man kicks off on August 27 with a new, comforting temple in tow.
The Temple of the Heart is shaped like an upside-down desert flower, its stem stretched out into the sky. Designed by artist Ela Madej and co-lead Reed Finlay, it emanates a feeling of being close to a heart—hence the name—embracing those who seek solace or are in grief.
As with Burning Man’s other healing venues, the Temple of the Heart, a piece of art in and of itself, is built with sustainability in mind and is poised to go down in flames alongside the iconic ‘Man’.
Serving as both a safe space and a sundial, the architectural flower is decked out in floral motifs borrowed from Eastern Europe—a nod to Madej’s Polish roots—that are visible up close and afar. By night, the area lights up with a soft and welcoming glow, a beacon in the middle of the desert.
The temple is anchored on a 12-star base, with a ‘Heart Chamber’ taking up its central gathering space.
The center of the Heart Chamber sits an intricate ‘Rose Altar’, which will be back-lit for a warm feeling. It is here that you’ll be acquainted with the heart of the community; Burning Man’s central altar will be adorned with about 100 large and medium-sized roses by volunteers, inviting people without construction experience to be able to participate in large ways.
The altar itself stands on a star-shaped pedestal that links up to the whole structure’s spire or ‘stem’, “sending the energy of the space upwards,” details Burning Man’s director of art management Katie Hazard in a blog post.
Wrapped around the Heart Chamber is the ‘Outer Ring’, an area intended for reflection, walking meditation, and for the community to exchange stories.
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Meanwhile, the gates of the temple’s four entrances blossom with even more wooden roses.
Burning Man’s temples are deliberately modest in scale, making way for “many offerings from the community without pushing to be bigger than ever,” the Burning Man Project explains. This allows it to bridge between tradition and eco-consciousness. With that said, the Temple of the Heart leaves some semi-private space for quiet reflection.
“The Burning Man Temple is the most remarkable place for deep sharing, grieving, and celebration,” notes Finlay, the design’s co-lead. “And we feel a great responsibility to provide a space that respects those profound experiences.”
Madej, who has been to Burning Man 11 times and uses the playa name ‘Light’, describes: “In bringing this Temple to the playa, we want to experiment with how much of our hearts we can insert into Her in the next eight months. This is going to be a beautiful process and hopefully a life-changing experience for those who get involved.”
“Every year, I return to the Temple. It’s a non-denomination space for celebration, reflection, and, mostly, for processing grief. There’s no judgment, no guilt, no shame. To me, it’s the most special building on playa,” the designer shares on Twitter.
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[via Burning Man Journal, The Architect’s Newspaper, SFGATE, images via various sources]
