How this EVENT became a CITY (BURNING MAN)

Eco-friendly event where people buy disposable bikes to throw them away and get back home with airplane :)

Imagine this but specifically for architects and city planners. You'll be able to do a small scale test run on layout concepts without government red tape and all that crap. I feel like there's sim engines for that but the human element would provide a ton of insight you might miss otherwise.

One big criticism of Burning Man that I don't hear discussed enough is how artificial it is. For the week long event, it is leave no trace, as soon as people leave Black Rock City though, it is a free for all to see who can leave the biggest mess in the surrounding communities. I've seen places have to hire guards to stop Burners from just dumping all their trash and leaving the local property owner to clean it up. My husband used to work at a U-Haul in Sparks NV and burners would routinely return their trucks (which, technically weren't supposed to be taken to Burning Man in the first place according to their rental contract) completely full of trash, one time with trash that was literally a smoldering fire. For the week long event, it is about radical inclusivity, but as soon as participants leave and go home, they are still the type of people who show up to town hall meetings to oppose affordable housing being built in their community. For locals in Northern Nevada, the event has become the one week a year that wealthy Silicon Valley types can come and cosplay as egalitarian and eco friendly people before making a mess and going right back to what they were doing before Burning Man, so full of confidence that because they pretended for a week, they don't have to worry about the next 51 weeks of the year. It's a shame, because a lot of us who have lived here our whole lives remember when it truly was a place for people who truly believed in the mission and vision of Burning Man who used the event as a way to experiment on how they could apply those values and would go home genuinely changed by the experience and try to do better. It would be great if it could go back to that again.

My late husband was obsessed with Burning Man, and we participated from 1994 to 2002, the year he died. It was smaller and much less regulated in the 90s. There was almost no crowd control. I remember many times when what we were doing would not have been considered "safe" at all. Gar from it. One year, Bob got the idea of bringing a truckfull of hay bales to set up as a climbing and sitting area. Of course, people tried to set it on fire. He had to guard it almost constantly. Another year, we brought a huge tent, which I had sewn from scratch on my smallish sewing machine. Burning Man IS another world in itself.

The problem I see with "participation" in burning man vs real life is: Population selection & time frame. 1) This population is self selected as a population that wants to contribute and participate in this given framework. In real life people have a lot going on. Like sure, I could shovel my disabled neighbors driveway... right after I go to work, clean the house, drop off/pick up kids from school, balance the budget, drop off/pick up the kids from an activity, do my workout, finish grocery shopping/cooking 2) Time frame is 9 days vs forever. I can get along with anyone for 9 days. A lifetime? Ehh no. I can also contribute SIGNIFICANTLY more resources/time/effort into a 9 day project (I can give it 110%). Could I maintain that for even 6 months? No. Im assuming everyone else has those same limitations

I can’t imagine having your job. Basically it sounds like your job is the absolute pinnacle of “one accident ruins it for the rest of us” such as when one person in a company does something reeeeeally dumb, policies are changed and the rest of the employees suffer. You make all of these types of things surrounding buildings and cities so much more understandable with your videos so thank you for that!!

Something I don't see talked about much, other than among friends, is the gifting rule is great but as more people attend, it has created wealthy zones within Burning Man. From feedback from friends who attended who are on opposite sides of financial status, the wealthy, or Group B, create their own camps and stay within those communities mostly with their own activities. They still participate outside of their camps at times but gift almost solely within their communities. They've said they've had too many experiences year after year of people who don't prepare anything to gift or even sustain themselves and expect "handouts" from them. Friends from Group A usually complain that Group B breaks the foundation rules by going by the wording and not the intention. They say that it doesn't matter if Burners come unprepared. If you can share you should share though not to the detriment of your own survival. Group A usually complains about how Group B generally bring much more "stuff" and waste to keep their luxury camps going. I mean I've had friends in the luxury camps bring generators for AC within their camps and have excess perishables by the end of the trip due to overpacking which they could have gifted to others but didn't. I just think it's interesting that as Burning Man grows, it has started to create its own economic segregation in their "camps" and how Burning Man allows it since the luxury camps also need approval since they are usually placed near each other.

The way the houses is lined up looks exactly like something out off a sci-fi movie

We have Glastonbury festival here in the UK. It has around 150k people attending it. These temporary towns are little functioning marvels. It is the human interaction element which makes these projects work in functionality and ascetically. Without human input they would just be faceless refugee camps. This applies to city and towns architectural layouts too. When its public accessible then that said public needs to have their input. It makes them part of the environment and therefore they would respect it better. Having things forced upon us is not a good way for city planning or architecture to pursue.

I love what you are saying here. I'd also be very interested to hear your thoughts around this after you go to Burning Man. One of the years I went I attended a workshop by an organization called City Repair, who was based out of Portland, Oregon who covered some of the topics you did but also talked about lessons Black Rock City can teach about how city planning and layout can help better foster community.

also the cost aspect of this event makes it so it’s extremely hard for lower class people to attend further confusing the aspect of ‘radical accessibility’ also this could contribute to gentrification of the event even if not a real city

I wish in my Urban Planning curriculum 9 days at Burning Man was included. I have a friend just a few blocks from me who has gone every year since it started. But your video gave me so much more. Thanks. I'm trying rebuild my city here in the SF Bay Area. The 10 principles would be a great part of that process.

I always learn so much from Dami. And her passion is so cool. Also, your sense of style is fucking impeccable.

My friends just went to Burning Man as founders of their own company, to build one of the structures that were set in place for the duration of the festival. The amount of thinking and communicating that went through every single one of their decisions was great, and I'd say it paid off! Especially since they took, first and foremost, the community's needs (as they did the environment's needs) into consideration. Your video was really inspiring, and it gave me a better sense of what their work was like from an architect/planner's perspective. Thank you!

You should go, and contribute. I went for the first time this year after 15 or so years of friends trying to convince me to go… My friends have worked on huge art out there and knew if I went I wanted to be a part of that. Over 5 months I volunteered with Folly Builders to build Paradisium (in your video) and got to see the city built in the process. It was really cool to see how big art comes together, to see people experience it and appreciate it. I came away with a very different pov from what I thought it would all be.

Thank you for doing all the proper research and sharing your perspective! As a multi time burner, I’d say your information are extremely accurate and I learned so much about the history of the city’s design from watching your video that one might not get even from going to the burn on multiple years! You’re right in that the community is what makes the city special, I started out as a spectator that is totally in awe of everything to becoming very hands on and comfortable with just about every tool you could imagine in just a few years. So yeah, the event will totally inspire you and push you out of your comfort zone and I highly recommend you to get out there! 😊

My sister was just telling me about Burning Man this year. She's been going a few years to Black Rock City. Her partner for much longer. They do local burns. And even one in South Africa. She gave me the quick jist of it, but your video fleshed out the Principles. The concept she had told me about that I was unfamiliar with was NO MONEY and GIFTS. I found that really inspiring because it means it's not just filled with vendors out to make cash. I go to a lot of Conventions and mostly people just go for the Dealer's Hall because they want to consume. But I nearly cried when you discussed the accessibility offered and required at Burning Man. And how the Radical Self Reliance and Particaption make those with handicaps feel actually more included than they are in everyday life. People with disabilities people are not very visible in daily, able bodied life and areas. I would think it would make those with no disabilities actually see "hey maybe we should consider people not like ourselves". I have a friend in a wheelchair and we go out from time to time. And some places have absolute garbage accessibility. But ever since one time where we went to a concert and they didn't have a public restroom accessible, then were weird about letting my friend use the employee restroom, I've kept my eyes wides open about things like that.

One architect that I've always admired for taking the community's input as perhaps the core to most of her projects is Jeanne Gang. Her and her team's ability to act almost as a "sponge" of sorts, absorbing the deep (and sometimes untold) wants and needs of communities, gives about the same inclusive characteristic to their projects as Burning Man's, in my opinion.

Woke up with a massive hangover yet this had me from start to end, love it. Beautifully spoken.

I am calling BS on the leave no-trace aspect of this...