Dictionary of political ideas 2015

General description

Burning Man festival takes place once a year, at the end of august, in the Black Rock desert, Nevada. A week-long event, Burning Man offers an alternate reality that is based on ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decomodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. Burning Man exemplifies the double meaning of the concept Utopia which, on the one hand, always holds promise for a better, more moral future, but at the same time, on the other hand, acknowledges its fragile character once implemented. This is when Utopia is exposed to foreign interests and meddling. “In utopian space the formal-architectural structure is what generates the social process, understood as being static” – Dr. Tali Hatuka in the opening article of Block magazine 03, 2006. Contrary to this, Black Rock City, the city that is built from scratch to host Burning Man and that is completely erased afterwards, is based on the concept of reappearance/reoccurrence that allows for progression due to the ability to draw conclusions and make adjustments. Further more, Burning Man illustrates that utopia is a state that can be sustained for only a short, predetermined period of time.

Ideas

• The building, comprised of five parts, regards the future of Burning Man, the prospect that it won’t always exist within a supportive environment.
• The building, conceived in five immobile parts, offers the possibility of expansion for Gerlach, the nearest town to Black Rock City. Already Gerlach has its fait linked to Burning Man.
• The five parts of the building are situated on five lines extending out each vertex of the pentagram fence surrounding Black Rock City. In this manner, the building allows for Black Rock City’s presence to be constant.
• The building’s program derives, in part, from the consumer behavior of Black Rock City’s residents, their possible future needs and the unique natural conditions of the site.
• The Building will be added to the Black Rock City community lexicon.