Paige tashner

Burning Man 2024

 

I kept a BIG secret for months!

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I was asked to submit a design for the 2024 Man Pavilion!!! 
That's the base of the Man at Burning Man. That's a HUGE deal!

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With my ideas and sketches, my incredibly talented friend, Magpie Molly, helped me put together a design that looked like what I saw in my head. We are a great team!

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Although my design wasn't chosen, it was such an honor to part of the process with the other artists, who I admire so much.

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My interpretation on this year’s Curiouser & Curiouser theme is about exploring the five elements of S.T.E.A.M. education: Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math.

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In that vein, to be Curiouser & Curiouser is to examine, ask questions,
experiment, and create.

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Lather, rinse, repeat...going deeper and deeper as you learn - and want to learn - even more!

 

Feed your curiosity!

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Things I had to consider...accessibility, interactivity, wind load, safety, feasibility.

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Description

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The Man Pavillion is a two-tier structure.

The Man stands at the top of a 10 to 12 foot high cylindrical upper tier base, enhanced with vertical Lenticular / Agamograph Art along the exterior. It’s tall enough to, hopefully, prevent people from climbing up to the Man.

The main/lower tier/base is a 20 foot high, round platform. The plywood surface of the platform is stained or painted with a spiral path.

Dual rows of slatted vertical lumber, arranged in varying angles and heights, create a moiré effect railing around the edge of the platform. Viewpoints are created using lower heights of lumber.

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Five accessibility-friendly ramps branch off from five equally spaced locations along the spiral path on the platform - think of a pentagon’s five points with the top point at 12 O’Clock.

The ramps lead down into curving, question mark-shaped passageways. The walls/sides are also built with slatted vertical lumber, creating more moiré effects depending on where you are in relation to each passageway.

Each passageway represents one of the five elements of S.T.E.A.M., demarcated by a color-coded flag or sign on a post or pole at the beginning/opening of the question mark’s curve, displaying a simple symbol representing Science, Technology, Engineering, Art or Math. At least two additional openings allow explorers to enter or exit a passageway without having to follow the entire length.

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Underneath the open-sided platform are five, 20 foot tall, 2-level, cylindrical, hollow “Transporter” towers. Each of these continue the theme of the five elements of S.T.E.A.M. and can double as structural support for the Man Pavilion. Bonus! They can also be enhanced with Lenticular / Agamograph Art around their exteriors, repeating the design of the upper tier.
Each of the Transporters has an opening on each side at the lower level and a sturdy ladder for climbing up to the second level.

On the second level, there are also two openings on either side of the landing that lead to a footbridge, connecting the Transporters to each other. Vertical slatted lumber handrails tie into the overall design while providing safety.

The Transporters have viewing ports at various heights through the walls at both levels and multiple round plexiglass skylights in the ceiling of the second level, visually connecting the Transporters to the surface of the main/lower tier.

During the day, sunlight will cast wonderful shadows through the vertical slatted lumber of the five passageways, the handrails and the Seating and Gallery Pods. At night, lighting can be added to further enhance those shadows, illuminate the flag/sign at each question mark opening, maybe even add splashes of color to enhance the theme inside. The skylights in the Transporters not only fill the cylinders with light during the day, they beam light up through the surface of the main/lower tier into the sky at night.