Can parametric architecture bring us closer to nature?

Arthur Mamou-Mani’s best-known building to date lasted just more than a week, before going up in flames. This would have been the kiss of death for any other architect. But for Mamou-Mani, it was a career-making moment: the building in question, called Galaxia, was the temple for the 2018 Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert; and its fiery demise was not only intentional, but part of a long-held tradition. Despite its brief lifespan, Galaxia left a deep impression in the hearts of many, and propelled its creator to the forefront of digitally designed and fabricated architecture.

It was late 2017 when the London-based French architect was announced as the winner of the competition to create the following year’s Burning Man Temple, a non-denominational space at the heart of the annual countercultural arts event, destined to be burned at its close. He envisioned a spiralling tower evoking ‘stars, planets, black holes, the movement uniting us in the swirling galaxies of dreams’. It was formed of pre-cut timber, assembled on-site as triangles, and folded into 20 modules like a giant piece of origami.