Burning Man Project has unveiled its new temple for Black Rock City 2023, the “Temple of the Heart”, by Polish artist Ela Madej, in collaboration with Reed Finlay. Conceived with a strong visual impact, the temple will serve as a space of high symbolic value to accommodate all the experiences and offerings of the community and will be built by a large group of volunteers.

The structure – developed from a 12-star plant – looks like an upside-down desert flower, with a stem reaching up into the sky, serving as both a beacon as well as a sundial, and at night it will glow with soft and warm light. The central gathering space – called “Heart Chamber” – houses the Rose Altar, a soaring and backlit element that will spread a slight glow and that will be decorated by about 100 large and medium-sized wooden roses and hundreds of other smaller flowers. The ceiling panels will be decorated with traditional lace floral motifs, typical of Eastern Europe. The altar will be placed on a star-shaped platform and will connect to the roof becoming an external spire, representing the stem of the flower. Around the Heart Chamber, there will then be an external ring, with twelve alcoves with seats. The four entrances will be surrounded by an ornamental enclosure that will create a courtyard that will surround the main structure, with corresponding gates.

The project was chosen on the basis of both pragmatic and theoretical considerations. The temple, in fact, had to be sufficiently harmonious and original to be considered a work of art in and of itself, but at the same time, it had to be sustainable, efficient, and safe, as well as quite simple and free, so as to avoid dictating a single way to experience it.

Temple of the Heart, will be relatively modest in scale, also to balance tradition and environmental sustainability. And since the philosophy behind the festival is to give the opportunity to offer creative contributions even to those who do not have specific skills has been designed to meet this intent.