“You’ll get to participate in maybe the largest grief ritual in the world!”
“OK, YES!” I told Gravity, my friend and long-time member of burning man’s temple crew, enthusiastically.

In 2022, I was invited to collaborate on the The Empyrean Temple as a crew member.

Getting to Burning Man as the city was first coming up tickled me as an infrastructure engineer. Even more exciting was the climbing, screwing, and deep breathing happening as this awesome structure came to life - growing 50 feet up in the sky with a hovering “ring” joining each side of the empyrean star.

With 70mph dust-storms and changing safety requirements, our crew brought up this cantilever’d design in time for thousands of attendees to join in witnessing not just aesthetic beauty, but the opportunity for collective grieving.