In this time of global challenge and conflict, we are invited to find strength in unity and to be seen, loved and inspired within a profound space for connection and reflection. The Temple of Together at this year’s Burning Man festival at Black Rock City, Nevada happening from August 25 - September 2, 2024, designed by New York and Oakland-based artist Caroline Ghosn and lead architect Maisa Sader, eloquently embodies this spirit with its intricate and heartfelt design. As the first BIPOC woman to design the temple for the festival, Ghosn’s contribution adds a new layer of inclusivity and representation to this iconic space. Spanning 94 feet in diameter and rising 70 feet high, this grand structure offers participants an opportunity to experience the light that emerges when we come together.

Known on the playa as “Glitter Kitty,” from Camp Mystic, the artist is a creative force whose passion for radical self-expression and community design shines through her work. She has led large-scale community activities and founded a multimedia theatre and film company, Recto Verseau that emphasises regenerative feminine principles through innovative storytelling. She brings a deeply personal touch to this year's Temple design which centres on the powerful motif of two hands coming together in prayer, symbolising unity and collective energy. The elements including the altar, spire and rising lanterns, channel this energy into a shared journey. The use of reeded weaving techniques, inspired by the wooden Khaizaran chair from the designer’s childhood in Beirut, Lebanon, adds a layer of cultural craftsmanship and personal memory to the structure’s cladding.

Honouring past temples and integrating lessons from previous years, Ghosn’s design reflects on her profound Burning Man experience in 2014 and builds on the expertise of past artists like David Best, Marisha Farnsworth, Steven Brummond, Ela Madej and Reed Finlay,  with a strong focus on intimacy and inclusivity. In an exclusive conversation with STIR, the lead artist reveals the inspirations and design choices that make the Temple a living representation of unity and light.

Aarthi Mohan: Can you share specific challenges you encountered during the design process, particularly in balancing aesthetic considerations with practical concerns such as burn safety and sustainability?

Caroline: I am a big believer in the adage that constraints breed creativity. In designing the Temple for Burning Man, we navigate everything from our intention to deliver an arresting visual experience for participants to the omission of materials that we can’t burn safely or sustainably. The Temple is entirely built using wood with minimal metal, as our team is responsible for the “Leave No Trace” effort after the structure is burned. This involves hundreds of volunteers picking up the thousands of screws, nails, staples and metal brackets that are required and recycling them after the event. We do not use plastic, paint, or other inorganic materials. In designing the lighting and the textiles, we consider the time window that our team has to prep the structure for the Burn as a limiting factor on how much to install. We have an eight-hour window to remove the textile elements after the Temple is closed to participants and before it is burned. It is a riveting and unusual experience to design large scale art that is intended to burn, as its return to the earth is considered with equal weight to its emergence from it. There are hundreds of new considerations that are born from that complexity.

Aarthi: Given the weather instability on the playa, what specific design features or adaptations have been incorporated into the Temple to address potential challenges and ensure the safety of participants?

Caroline: The Temple architecture is structurally engineered, peer-reviewed and reinforced for maximum safety, no matter the conditions. The varying weather patterns over the last 24 years have reinforced our resolve as a community to engineer above and beyond. Each year, we implement more safeguards and extreme-scenario protections. If we face 90 mph winds, we have a support structure in place. If torrential rain pours down and it becomes blazingly hot, we have a roof system, seating system and shade system to cover both extremes. This Burning Man project welcomes the full spectrum of the human experience, from grief to intention-setting to celebration and considers the full range of the Playa experience.

Aarthi: How does the emphasis on shelter within the Temple align with Burning Man's principles of radical self-reliance and communal participation?

Caroline: We are particularly excited about Temple of Together's commitment to the Burning Man principles of radical self-reliance and community building. Our team designed the Temple from the inside out, starting with the individual participant’s nervous system when in that space. The central chamber is a communal space where over 180 people can sit comfortably on the benches with room for dozens more to meditate, pray and reflect around the altar. Burning Man has a tradition of Temple Guardians, volunteers who hold space and safety for participants. This means that if you find yourself in the Temple at 2 am with a challenging emotional experience, there are volunteers present to support you. Our intention is to offer options to suit your state and support it lovingly.

Aarthi: Can you describe how the use of sustainable and repurposed materials aligns with the Temple’s goal of being the most environmentally sustainable to date and how does this approach foster community involvement and participation?

Caroline: Our team’s commitment to the environment is expressed in various ways this year, beginning with sustainable materials. We sourced all our non-structural lumber locally from trees damaged in storms or cut down as part of California’s fire safety policies and milled them locally to support our local business ecosystem and reduce transportation emissions. We have efficiently engineered our transportation process to reduce our footprint as much as possible, cutting and fabricating all parts within a two-mile radius and digitally mapping each truckload to maximise space. We purchased reputable carbon offsets for all of the truck-related emissions that we could not eliminate. Our build process and lighting design during event week are powered by 100 per cent solar energy and we are converting all support infrastructure to solar energy. Our camp kitchen serves over 5,000 meals sourced from local and organic producers and uses compostable cutlery and supplies. Our guiding principle is “leave it better than we found it,” and we have invited hundreds of members of our community to participate in co-creating all of the ways that we can implement this.

Aarthi: The Temple of Together appears to have a more substantial appearance this year. What drove this design choice and how does it enhance the overall experience for participants?

Caroline: Each year, our community benefits from a different Temple design reflecting the current energetic and emotional zeitgeist. This year, the creation of a sense of loving safety and a reminder of awe and beauty translated into a Temple with substantial vertical and curved members that rise and extend beyond the immediate eye, with layers of soft textiles dancing in ever-changing forms. The public architecture project accepts the interplay of indoors and outdoors, sun and shade, intricate and towering elements, integrating all parts of ourselves and by extension, an acceptance of all of the parts of others.

Aarthi: Could you describe the significance behind the motif of two hands coming together in prayer that serves as the dominant theme in the design of the Temple and how does it resonate with the broader theme of unity and connection?

Caroline: The inspiration for Temple of Together came from the experience of being inside the central chamber, feeling internal integration, unity and serenity. The motion of joining my left and right hands together at the palm represents this movement towards all parts of myself. This simple gesture reconnects me with my truth and has a significant meaning in many spiritual traditions worldwide. The arched form that human hands take when coming together in this way is one of the most beautiful and inspiring visual forms in a religious architecture lexicon and became the motif to layer, surrounding the participant with the message: all of you are welcome here.

Aarthi: How does the design and execution of the Temple prioritise inclusivity and respect for all participants, ensuring a welcoming environment for everyone?

Caroline: Ensuring that the Temple experience feels inclusive, respectful and safe for all participants starts with the container that we create as a team. Over 1000 strangers join together in service to bring the Temple to life over the course of five months of pre-build in our space in Oakland in the United States and nearly a month of build-out on the playa before Black Rock City even emerged from the dust. The only way we can flow is by co-creating around a unifying set of principles: check-in, care, communicate, collaborate and consecrate.

The flow of the space ensures that participants with the fullest spectrum of accessibility needs feel included, with multiple access and exit points, consistent flat navigation and signage at each entry. We offer multi-sensory support and accessible design for participants along the full visual spectrum, including audio descriptions and 3D maquettes that can be experienced through touch. We remain open to any ways we can continue supporting inclusion and welcome feedback.

Aarthi: In what ways has your journey of overcoming trauma and illness influenced the thematic exploration within the Temple, particularly in addressing themes of grief, self-reckoning and healing?

Caroline: My path of spiritual exploration over the past decade has led to the realisation, that gave me significant freedom, is that I am not broken; I have brokenness. I have experienced knee-bending grief, despair, disappointment, betrayal, hopelessness and heartbreak. Many of us have and all of us at some point in our journeys. Instead of covering it up or healing it so it goes away, I realised that making peace with it and recognising the gifts each experience has given me, has made me a much happier person. These experiences have given me the capacity to empathise with and hold compassion for a wider spectrum of the human experience. The places where my heart has been broken allow me to see and feel those places in others and offer love, support, or understanding. I have come to realise that “healed” is not a destination; it is a feeling of finding freedom and serenity in each circumstance that life presents, starting with the ability to breathe fully and create a small space between what is happening around us and our reaction to it.

Aarthi: Finally, how do you envision the Temple of Together contributing to the overall Burning Man experience? And what do you hope participants will take away from their time within the structure?

Caroline: The Temple of Together is a love letter to our entire community, one that thousands of hands have poured intention into materialising. It reads: you are loved and you are not alone.

The Burning Man festival will take place in the Nevada desert from August 25 – September 2, 2024. For more information on the event visit https://www.2024temple.com/