I was fortunate this year to have my design for the Temple of Kiwiburn in early 2017 (the NZ verion of Burning Man).
This involved managing a crew of 11 volunteers, for two weeks, building the structure in the middle of a field, in preparation for the main festival event.
The 1,500 festival participants were then able to use the space to say their fairwells, writing on the walls, before the final ceremonial burning ceremony.
Some numbers:
1,000 meters of NZ pine
144 meters of bamboo (24 lengths, at 6 meters)
150 recycled coffee sacks, for the roof
750 meters of manilla rope
500 meters of manilla string
150 meters of LED lights (totalling 4,500 LEDs)
Some thanks:
In addition to the superb voluntary build team, often seen in the images below, I also want to say massive thanks to:
Paloma Gardens – For not only letting us take away for free, but also helping us carry and load around 60 lengths of structural bamboo, from their incredibly beautiful gardens, near Fordell, Whanganui.
Coffee Supreme – For letting us collect for free, over 150 coffee bags, from their Roastery in Wellington.
Some images:
The temporary workshop, smoothing down the 1,000 meters of rough sawn timber, for the build.Some of the build team, hard at preperation.Finalising the roof mandala (to be positioned in the roof apex)Production of the 48 pillar supportsSome of the build team hard at workThe roof mandala, now with the geometric string art applied.Half the build crew, as seen from above, just before raising the mandalaRaising the mandala, and securing the 6 meter bamboo roof pole sections.The temple roof (not yet raised), the workshop, and the tool tent.Checking the roof apex is level, 5 meters up. As you can see, it is exactly!The tripods to support raising the roof, in position. The roof covering (coffee sacks) being applied.The roof section partially covered.The roof now half coveredOnly one roof panel left to attachThe roof apex, now standing at 7.5 meters on the column supports, having survived the gale force winds.How the temple site looks, in a field, in the base of a valley.The complete temple structure, with the final wall panels going on.The complete Kiwiburn Temple, one of the first days of the festivalSome incredible cloud patterns, above the festival siteThe temple by night, illumated by near 150meters of LED stripsThe temple lighting, as seen from the insideViewing inside the temple, after many of the memories have been added.The view from the base of the inner spiral, looking straight upLooking down on the inner spiral, just before the final burn.The ceremonial burning of the temple structureAfter most of the burn is complete, and 1,500 people looked on in silence for the whole hour.
