A look back at a wooden sanctuary from the playa
The photo captures Temple of Flux in 2010: a massive, deliberately fragile structure of overlapping planks that reads like a giant, hand-built nest. Up close you can see scrawled notes, photos and tokens taped to its inner walls — small, personal offerings left by people using the space to grieve, reflect or say goodbye. A handful of burners stand in the shade, reading the messages or leaving their own.
Temples at Burning Man aren’t loud spectacle — they’re the placemaking opposite of the big art burns. They function as communal altars: quiet, introspective, and intensely human. The design here emphasizes texture and motion, even when still — the slatted wood makes the whole wall feel like it’s moving with the wind, a fitting home for transient memories.
- Personal memorials: the walls are covered in handwriting, pictures and small objects people bring to leave behind.
- Architecture as ritual: the layered plankwork creates a protective, inward-facing space for contemplation.
- Ephemeral by design: like most playa art, these structures invite presence now — they exist to be felt, then released.
This image is a reminder of the quieter rituals that make festival culture more than parties and spectacle. For many, the temple is the part of Burning Man that stays with them long after the dust settles.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1opj2e4/the_temple_of_flux_2010/