Video: Drone footage of the beautiful Galaxia timber spiral
Twenty triangular timber trusses form the Galaxia temple, a vast structure that spirals to a point high above the ground.
 
French architect Arthur Mamou-Mani recently unveiled drone footage of the temple when it was set up at the 2018 Burning Man festival in Nevada.
 
The theme of the 2018 festival was Isaac Asimov's i-Robot sci-fi book from the 1950s. Galaxia got its name from the book's sequel Foundation's Edge, which features an interconnected planet named Gaia.
 
"Galaxia is later described as the galaxy-wide entity of this complete state of synergy. I believe the idea resonated with that of a secular and contemporary temple for a worldwide community – temples essentially being spaces to connect people," Mamou-Mani told Dezeen.
 
Galaxia was built over 22 days by 140 volunteers deep in the Nevada desert. After the festival, it was purposely burned down in front of 70,000 people. Mamou-Mani told Dezeen it was part of the ritual of letting go, describing it as catharsis.
 
This year's Burning Man festival has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
 
Photos by Alex Medina

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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].