The Wishing Well

Summary

The Wishing Well is the physical manifestation, a snap-shot, of a creature caught in between dimensions – frozen in time. It is a digital entity that has been extracted from its home in the fractured planes of the mathematical realm; a differentially grown curve in bloom, organically filling space in the material world.

3D Printed Differential Space-Filling Curve

3D Printed Developing Hilbert Curve

The notion of geometry in between dimensions is explored in a previous post: Shapes, Fractals, Time & the Dimensions they Belong to

 

Description

The piece will be built from the bottom-up. Starting with the profile of a differentially grown curve (a squiggly line), an initial layer will be set in pieces of 2 x 4 inch wooden studs (38 x 89 millimeter profile) laid flat, and anchored to the ground. Each subsequent layer will be built upon and fixed to the last, where each new layer is a slightly smoother version than the last. 210 layers will be used to reach a height of 26 feet (8 meters). The horizontal spaces in between each of the pieces will automatically generate hand and foot holes, making the structure easily climbable. The footprint of the build will be bound to a space 32 x 32 feet.

The design may utilize two layers, inner and out, that meet at the top to increase the structural integrity for the whole build. It will be lit from within, either from the ground with spotlights or with LED strip lights following patterns along the walls.

Different Recursive Steps of a Dragon Curve

Ambition

At the Wishing Well, visitors embark on a small journey, exploring the uniquely complex geometry of the structure before them. As they approach the foot of the well, it will stand towering above them, undulating organically across the landscape. The nature of the structure’s curves beckons visitors to explore the piece’s every nook and cranny. Moreover, its stature grants a certain degree of shelter to any traveller seeking refuge from the Playa’s extreme weather conditions. The well’s shape and scale allows natural, and artificial, light to interact in curious ways with the structure throughout the day and night. The horizontal gaps between every ‘brick’ in the wall allows light to filter through each layer, which in turn casts intriguing shadows across the desert. This perforation also allows Burners to easily, and relatively safely, scale the face of the build. Visitors will have the opportunity to grant a wish by writing it down on a tag and fixing it to the well’s interior.

 

Philosophy

If you had one magical (paradox free) wish, to do anything you like, what would it be?

Anything can be wished for at the Wishing Well, but a wish will not come true if it is deemed too greedy. Visitors must write their wish down on a tag and fix it to the inside of the well. They must choose wisely, as they are only allowed one. Additionally, they may choose to leave a single, precious, offering. However, if the offering does not burn, it will not be accepted. Visitors will also find that they must tread lightly on other people’s wishes and offerings.

The color of the tag and offering are important as they are associated with different meanings:

• ► PINK – love
• ► RED – happiness, joy, success, good luck, passion, vitality, celebration
• ► ORANGE – change, adaptability, spontaneity, concentration
• ► YELLOW – nourishment, warmth, clarity, empathy, being free from worldly cares
• ► GREEN – growth, balance, healing, self-assurance, benevolence, patience
• ► BLUE – conservation, healing, relaxation, exploration, trust, calmness
• ► PURPLE – spiritual awareness, physical and mental healing
• ► BLACK – profoundness,  stability, knowledge, trust, adaptability, spontaneity,
• ► WHITE – mourning, righteousness, purity, confidence, intuition, spirits, courage

The Wishing Well is a physical manifestation of the wishes it holds. They are something caught in between – on their way to becoming more. I wish for guests to reflect on where they’ve been, where they are, where they are going, and where they wish to go.

You are in zone of

DANGER!

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DANGER! – a project making people to stop as there’re hazards of Burning Man ahead.  Navigation, which allows them to find the way out and look at the signs. At the same time it will let them to come closer, stay curious and discover danger from inside out.

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DANGER! is a zone where Love and Fire are being found.  The place where people express their love to surroundings such as Landscape, People, Architectural structures, each other. Love that they can share and find within zone of DANGER!  In my opinion, Burning Man festival is about expressing the feeling of Love to someone special. At same time, Burning Man festival is closely associating with Fire. Fire of burning structures, Fire of burning Love. It all comes as one, as a zone of Danger, where visitors may find the Love and get closer to Fire.

The structure is designed to reveal following shadows: symbol of Love (Heart) and Alchemical symbol of Fire (Triangle).

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Concept of the DANGER! structure

Alchemical Symbol of Fire – Equilateral Triangle

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Definition of Subdivision is an act or instance of subdividing whole element into pieces. Symbol of the Proposed Burning Man Temple is an Alchemical symbol of Fire. Symbol, which stands as Equilateral Triangle, triangle with upraised point associating to infinitive Flame. Equilateral describes as having all its sides of the same length.

Burning Man defines three different types or levels of open fire, each with different characteristics, and each requiring different approval processes and safety procedures.

• Direct contact with the playa
• Enclosed fire
• Relocation for burning

In any case, the structures are associated with Burning Man (burning in fire), which can be either burnt on site or be relocated for further demolition or be fired up on separate Burning Man platform.

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Studies of Flame shape, move and intensity

Fire is dangerous aspect of Burning Man festival – the structures have to be placed in correct area to maintain needed gaps for visitors stay safe. The Flame has it’s intensity moments, when it can explode and catch structure near by.

It is a zone of DANGER!

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Sun rises up at 7a.m and brings the light of a day- shadow of the heart will appear at the first platform of DANGER!. Why is at 7 am? It is a time when citizens of Burning Man may join the awakening of the sun within the field, as it is a time when sun is coming out from East side mountains. Also, it is the time,when Yoga and Meditation classes are beginning. I believe it’s when soul and body are awaken to make and share the Beauty and Love.

17 pm  Triangle shadow       =            BURNING MAN  FESTIVAL         =         7 am Heart shadow

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Sun Studies at Black Rock City in Nevada 

Site Model at 1:200000

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Shape finding

Distortion of shape while keeping same shadow of triangle at certain position of the sun.

Option 1                               Option 2                    Option 3                     Option 4                      Option 5

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Design development

 

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Further studies on shadow creation

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Experimental model – triangle shadow cast

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Test video of two shadow being cast- Heart within triangle and Triangle with a symbol of Burning Man inside.

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7 am and 5 pm 2nd and 3rd of September it is when the structure, shadows and people of Burning Man are becoming one entity.

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Danger is 10m long, 3m wide and 3m tall. The entire structure is made out of 18mm birch plywood, 30cm diameter poles which are assembled on the Playa.

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A 1:1 scale model of one part of the model including pole and platform had been built on site of University of Westminster to test the size, materials and way of building and assembling the structure.

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Day and Night shape finding

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During the night, the structure will be lightened up by neon lights fixed to external edge of the floating triangles. From certain view point the heart and triangle will be seen.

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Final Model 1:20 scale

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Way of assembling the DANGER!

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Visitors and citizens are welcome to gather at the platforms created and stay within zone of Danger to enjoy the hot day in Nevada by the time second shadow appears. The sun at 5 pm will bring a shadow of Triangle, which represents the symbol of fire. It is the time when Burning Man is announcing the best burners of the festival. The time when everyone will get ready for the start of the main part of the festival- burning structures and a beauty of the Fire.

You are in zone of DANGER!

The project of DANGER! is designed for Burning Man festival, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA, 2017 by Ana Sidorova

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‘Entwine’ – Submission for Burning Man 2016

INSTALLATION SUBMISSION TO BURNING MAN 2016 – ‘Entwine’

Entwine is a timber frame structure which has been developed through rigorous physical and digital testing to ensure a safe climbing frame for all to enjoy. When exploring Entwine, the vast expanse of the playa is framed through beautiful intertwining curved plywood beams. Burners can view the event from glorious vantage points nestled amidst multiple communal spaces that encourage interaction and play.

The structure predominantly consists of strips of curved plywood which have been connected together using pioneering construction techniques, specifically the utilisation of conflicting forces, similar to those apparent in ‘Tensegrital’ design. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci and his various experimentations with physical form, ‘Entwine’ is a marvel of geometry. The piece is formed from an arrangement of 19 octahedral components, each consisting of six beams, which are paired and positioned upon one of three axis. These three elements represent the unity of man, nature and the universe that surrounds us.

Each modular component is tessellated to form an octahedral space frame structure. The rigidity resulting from this tessellation is in direct contrast to the curving structural beams which exude an organic aesthetic. As Burners view Entwine from different aspects, a remarkable array of different patterns and forms are revealed, many bearing resemblance to sacred geometry, specifically the Flower of Life, which was a significant study within Leonardo Da Vinci’s work.

Entwine is unorthodox in its composition, and this is a contributing factor to what makes it so unique: Each module is constructed through tensioning layers of ¼ inch thick plywood, which are then mechanically fixed together when a desired radius has been reached. By laminating the plywood in this manner, each component retains its curvature but remains in compression. These conflicting forces are integral to the design of Entwine: Each octahedral module is constructed from these compressed plywood elements, and are held together with tensioning ropes creating a structure of isolated components in compression within a net of continuous tension.The form of the structure is based on the octahedron, which is a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles; four of which meet at each vertex. One of the eight triangles acts as a base for the structure. This results in one edge creating a small cantilever, whilst the counter edge can be anchored to the ground. As previously studied by Buckminster Fuller, the geometry of an octahedron is particularly good at forming space frames with a strong cantilevers.

The participatory aspect of the installation voids the role of the ‘spectator’ and creates more active engagement. In many of Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings, his subjects are framed by surreal, dreamlike landscapes. This is reflected within Entwine: As Burners become part of the installation, they are framed by the awe inspiring backdrop of Black Rock Desert: In many ways Entwine becomes the artist, the playa the canvas, and Burners the subjects.

“the artist is not a special sort of person, but every person is a special sort of artist.”

This is not only true in the sense of physical involvement but during the construction the ‘spectator’ becomes involved in making strategic decisions in the realisation of the work of art. The development, design and construction of the project embodies the principles of self-reliance and self-expression, whilst a proposal that is safe, interactive and beautiful will be gifted to the community at Burning Man.

Entwine’s curving form will be illuminated using LED spot lights to enhance the organic patterning existent within the structure. This allows the full form of the structure to be fully visible.

Our Kickstarter campaign is now live

WeWantToLearn.net has a live Kickstarter Campaign. Please help us bring to life three beautiful students projects for this year’s Burning Man festival and receive some exciting rewards such as the T-Shirts shown below with the three digital designs: http://kck.st/1ESCVFb

Left: Infinity Clothing, Middle: Reflection Clothing, Right: Bismuth Clothing

Three DS10 students win Art Grants for the Burning Man Festival 2015

WeWantToLearn.net (Diploma Studio 10 at the University of Westminster led by Toby Burgess and Arthur Mamou-Mani)  is happy to announce more good news – Three of our students have just received art grants from the Burning Man Festival to build the pavilions they designed as part of our brief – Congratulations to the following winners:

• Tobias Power with The Infinity Tree
• Lorna Jackson with Reflection
• Jon Leung with Bismuth Bivouac

All DS10 students will be offered a chance to build the projects this summer with the designers and we will be supported by RAMBOLL and Format Engineers.

Over the course of four years, DS10 has submitted a little more than 80 proposals to the Global Arts Grant of Burning Man and received a total of 6 grants including the ones for Fractal Cult & Shipwreck (built in 2013) and Hayam (built in 2014). We are all very proud and excited to go back!

The Infinity Tree by Tobias Power

Reflection by Lorna Jackson

Bismuth Bivouac by Jon Leung

Watch our TEDx talk, The Architecture of Joy to understand the philosophy behind these projects

As the grant is limited, we need your help to pay for transportation and the additional costs related to construction, you can donate on the PayPal button below just indicate which project you want to donate to, kickstarter campaigns should follow shortly:

 

FUN-tegrity

Physical Manifestation of FUN-Tegrity Pavillion

“All Structures, properly understand, from solar system to the atom, are tensegrity structures. Universe is omnitensional tensegrity”, Buckminster Fuller described the tensegrity structure. With the concept of “Fun Circus: Playground in the desert” , the Fun-tegrity Pavillion is a shelter that offers fun and also leisure with the idea of fun palace in the middle of the dead desert – redefining oasis. Flexible, stable and tuneable of membrane tensegrity are advantages to create the fun and leisure based installation and give more means rather than only harps in spaces. The pavilion will capture the essence of dynamic characteristics of the tensegrity structures, by decomposing and altering the basic module of the tensegrity model. This pavilion will has three main functions, which are for shelter, leisure and as a playground . The membrane of the structure will provide shelter from the hot burning sun , and in between the poles of the compression members, hammocks can be installed to provide individual leisure space. On top of the modules combined , there’ll be a trampoline installation, as the playground, where people can jump on it .

It will act as social intervention based on circus arts performances among the strangers and nomad in in the desert, a place where they communicate , have fun and share their talent. With the selected materials , of white membranes, it will contradict with the surrounding site , gracefully prevail in the middle of the dessert .

This year’s theme is about mirrors and masks, mazes and merger. It will be a kind of magic show that takes the form of an old-fashioned carnival. This Carnival of Mirrors asks three essential questions: within our media-saturated world, where prod- ucts and people, consumption and communion morph into an endlessly diverting spectacle, who is the trickster, who is being tricked, and how might we discover who we really are?

Classic carnivals, as theaters of illusion, upheld a very strict dividing line that separated carnies, cast as showmen, from mem- bers of a naïve public who were labeled chumps and suckers, marks and rubes. Our carnival, however, will perform an even more subversive trick — its motto is Include the Rube. The wall dividing the observer from observed will disappear, as by an act of magic; through the alchemy of interaction, everyone at once can be the carny and the fool.

Social Interaction 

There had been tensegrity installation before in the history of burning man . But there is no one that people can jump on it . So why not ? People will have fun and express themselves. There will be other smaller modules for other people to be used as shelters . That is the beauty of tensegrity structures . They are flexible and tuneable. This pavilion would not be merely as shelter. In fact, they can play with it or on it ! Fragments of spaces inside of the tensegrity structures, will create some social pods where strangers can hang out and exchanging their creative thoughts . But the most important thing, it will bring people together .

this entry can be access through this student’s website as well ESHAHASHIM©

The Infinity Tree

Scorched, dry, barren, the desert wilderness sits silent, still, soundless, lifeless. Only the pale whispers of the delicate desert fauna can be heard. Whispering, softly a whisper becomes a murmur, gently a murmur becomes a sound before the faintest of echoes can be heard between; it begins. At first a drop, motionless.

Weeks pass, slowly, a drop becomes a trickle, trickling, creeping, a journey begins, weaving, the trickle meanders. With time it grows, a small stream flows, filling the cracks of the playa. New life left in its wake, the desert is alive once more, the sounds of joy approaching. A sapling emerges from the stream, twisting and winding it grows high above the ground, encircling itself, entwining itself.

A figure of our memories, a myriad of our existence, its infinitude transcends time and like the stream to the tree we breathe life into the playa. A rest for our minds, a shelter for our bodies, a place not only to remember, a place to never forget. As our lives become more complex, diluted by materialistic culture, we find ourselves absorbed in the external forces placed upon us.It can sometimes be easy in a world of fake ideals and counterfeit culture to forget what is really real to us, what is truly important.

Above the consumerist sphere exists a timeless space, our memories, our joy, our loved ones, an eternal, unbreakable, everlasting chain. The Infinity Tree is symbol of what can never be lost, what will always be found, and what makes us who we are.

The Infinity Tree is inspired by Daniel Piker’s “Rheotomic Surface” research.

Please Select the Link below for more information

//e.issuu.com/embed.html#10993835/11294262

The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is a 13ft cubic timber frame structure built from curved plywood beams. These beams join together at circular timber junctions and are arranged in such a way that they form a series of interlocking circles, reminiscent of the sacred geometry of the Flower of Life. They beams are identical to one another and arranged in a repetitive fashion so the entire structure has a degree of homogeneity and symmetry to its design. The structure appears as a volume of interconnecting timber branches.

Up close, the structure will manifest as a dense volume of timber beams, shooting off in multiple directions like branches of a tree. In specific places, the curved plywood beams are replaced by structural timber leaf-shaped panels. These panels are coloured various shades of green using water based, environmentally friendly wood stains.  A subtle leaf-pattern is scored onto their faces and they positioned in an irregular arrangement throughout the structure. The seemingly arbitrary way the panels are positioned and orientated can be compared to the random nature of how leaves appear to fall from a tree.

Reflection

Reflection presents this years burners with an intimate setting in which to share their inner most confessions, secrets and tales – With the option to do so both openly with other burners face to face, or retain the mystery of their identity by sharing with a complete stranger through the pavilions semi private screen. Reflection embodies the theme ‘Carnival of Mirrors’ in a variety of manners:- the geometry of the pavilion not only mirrors itself in its own form, but also incorporates a reflective surface within its interior spaces. The reflective physicality of the pavilion beautifully juxtaposes its function, by giving its burners a physical platform with which to cogitate their innermost thoughts and feelings, and share these with others. The pavilion is created as a result of rigorous testing of origami in order to create a single Spiralhedron which is then mirrored through along all axis.

Based upon a geometric origami principle which outlines the rules for the triangular subdivision of a 2-dimensional shape and assigns mountain and valleys creases to each subsequent subdivision the Spiralhedron has been optimised through both digital and physical testing. Reflection takes an abstract approach to this years theme, the pavilion’s form manifests itself as a result of mirroring this singular Spiralhedron in the X,Y and Z axis, which in turn creates its enclosing plywood form. In order to create the semi-private confessional screen, the panels incorporate a pattern, providing both the function of privacy, but also narrating the origins of the pavilions final form.

The principles of Burning Man are carefully considered, by providing an interactive base for participation that is never fully accomplished without the burners involvement. By sharing their stories, burners create a unique experience manifested through the ideals of trust and sharing, which facilitates a special bond between the burners. Upon its burning at the end of the festival, ‘Reflection’ becomes a resting place for the confessions, secrets and stories of its burners, allowing new bonds to be formed.

Construction

Due to form being created through the act of mirroring the entire pavilion will be made of 9 unique laser cut panels which will be bolted together with both metal hinges and 90 degrees and wooden brackets at 135 degrees.

Dimensions

Constrained by the size of a plywood sheet each individual Spiralhedron is made of two sheets of plywood (requiring 16 in total). Made of eight spiralhedrons ‘Reflection’ has a footprint of 3.5metres*3.5metres with a maximum height of 3.5m creating a footprint equal to that of the height of the pavilion.

Burning Man Festival | Bismuth Bivouac

Help us reach our Kickstarter target! http://kck.st/1ESCVFb

Inspired by the geometry from the crystalline growth pattern of the element Bismuth (Bi), the Bismuth Bivouac is a playful pavilion that celebrates the orthogonal geometries that can exist in natural Bismuth crystals to form an intriguing cubic structure, with spiralling disruptions on each face that are governed by the golden ratio. From a distance, the structure appears as a seemingly solid cube, but upon closer inspection, the internal spaces can be explored and utilised.The beautiful iridescent colours of crystal are to be translated into the proposal through coloured LED strip lighting, built into the simple dimensional lumber structure of the pavilion, so at night the Bismuth Bivouac gives has the same visually mesmerizing, colourful effect of the bismuth crystals in nature. The project aims to play with the participants perception of depth and scale in this mirroring structure – from afar, the structure will appear as a dense cube that sits on the playa, but as the participants move towards the structure, they will begin to be able to see through parts of the structure due to the stepped nature of the geometry and holes formed from spiral disruptions. The structure provides sheltered from harsh desert sun, but also provides a plaything for the sun to casts its shadows during the day, and for people to cast their own shadows with their own illuminations at night.

Development

Construction

 

Visualizations