We are thrilled to announce the Temple for Black Rock City 2027, which is simply named The Temple, by Steve Brummond. We’re sharing it a full three months earlier than usual, as part of the Art Department’s increased support of Temple artists, giving them more time to refine the design, engineer the structure, fundraise, and recruit a team. Ten years after co-leading the 2017 Temple, Steve returns with a design that asks how we’re connected to each other in Black Rock City and around the world, and what happens when a Temple reflects that connection in its very form.
Inspiration: The Pattern that Repeats
Design rendering of The Temple by Steve Brummond, site plan at night with linework rendering by the artist
Nature is full of patterns that repeat at different scales. Trees do it in their branching, and rivers divide into networks of tributaries. Zoom in or out far enough on almost any ecosystem, and similar forms appear. Across vastly different scales, simple forms can repeat and connect to create something far more complex.
The Temple explores the idea of fractal geometry as a way of thinking about the interconnectedness of the global Burning Man community — from a participant in Black Rock City to Burners gathering in their hometowns around the world. Each individual is part of something larger, and every connection contributes to the whole. Steve also frames the Temple as an experiment: if each level of a fractal reflects the whole, what happens when the Temple’s own form aligns with a larger structure we can’t easily see?
The design began with a simple Y-shaped geometric form, repeated at smaller and smaller scales. As Steve explored the pattern, he experimented with its orientation and proportions, discovering how the repetition of a simple form could create a more complex, interconnected structure. This repeating geometry became the organizing logic for the Temple, informing everything from its overall form to its smallest details.
Steve explored the idea through a series of iterations, testing how the same underlying branching pattern could take shape as a Temple. As the design evolved, the overall plan remained remarkably consistent while the height, proportions, and configuration of the structures changed. In the final iteration, he angled the walls inward, bringing the pattern together in a form that feels familiar within Black Rock City’s Temple tradition. Seen from above, the Temple’s threefold geometry takes on the appearance of a snowflake or mandala, and the perimeter fence follows the same rotational symmetry.
Rendering of The Temple by Steve Brummond, interior day
The Temple’s outer skin is still evolving, and the pattern shown in the current renderings is just one possibility. Like the Temples before it, this one will be built in community, with opportunities for the crew to contribute to the design as well as the construction. Steve will work with the team to develop the final pattern, allowing the Temple to take shape through a collaborative process.
The Lead Artist and Team
Steve at the build site for Temple of the Heart by Ela Madej and Reed Finlay, 2023 (Photo by Ajesh Shah)
Steve Brummond is a Bay Area architect who grew up in St. Louis building with LEGO bricks and designing sets for high school plays. He went to his first Burn in 2010 as a UC Berkeley architecture graduate student, walked onto the inner playa at sunset, and was blown away. In 2014, he was invited onto the architecture team for one of David Best’s Temples, an experience he describes as just as transformative as his first Burn. He returned to the Temple architecture teams in 2016 and 2023, co-led the 2017 Temple with Marisha Farnsworth, and brought the Carillon bell tower (or elements of it) to BRC three times, most recently in the 2025 Man Pavilion. As a founding board member of the Temple Builders Guild, Steve was part of the team instrumental in creating the camp and building infrastructure that all Temple crews have relied on over the past years.
Carillon by Steve Brummond, 2022 (Photo by Dan Adams)
2027 will be Steve’s 15th Burn. His wife Tabitha, also on her 15th Burn, will be at his side for this journey. Steve is building a team that brings together new collaborators, experienced Temple builders, and artists who worked with him on his previous art installations.
The earlier timeline makes 2027 something of a transition year for the Temple program, and we’re glad to have a lead artist with deep Temple experience to carry the build through it. Roles on the team will continue to take shape over the coming months, with more time than usual to do it well. Experienced hands and newcomers are equally welcome, and Steve is excited to learn and teach.
An Enduring Tradition
Burning Man just turned 40, and the Temple has been part of its story for more than a quarter century. David Best began the tradition in 2000 with the Temple of the Mind. On October 24, the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno will open the exhibition Sacred Transformations: The Art of David Best, on view through March 2028. David is recognized as the visionary behind nine Temples in Black Rock City and ten additional Temples built in collaboration with communities across the globe. The exhibition is one example of how a ritual born in our favorite desert has traveled into the wider art world.
Over the years, the Temple has evolved while remaining rooted in the same enduring practice: creating a space for reflection, connection, remembrance, and release. As the tradition has grown, the Burning Man Art Department has found ways to help it thrive for the next generation, while keeping Black Rock City on the leading edge of wildly creative, ambitious, participatory art. Over the past two years we’ve increased the Temple grant amount, and simplified the application process. For 2027, the application process began several months earlier, giving the selected artist more time to develop the project, learn from the 2026 Temple builders on playa, and prepare for the experience of bringing a Temple to BRC.
The Temple has also become part of Burning Man culture beyond the playa. Burning Man is 365 and everywhere, and people have adapted the Temple tradition to fit their home communities. Through a worldwide network of more than 100 Regional communities in over 30 countries, people gather at local and annual events to connect, create art, and bring inspired ideas to life. Temples have become part of that practice, too. In 2023, local Burners built the Temple of Tranquility in Harlow Platts Community Park in Boulder, Colorado, as a non-denominational space for a community working through shared trauma and grief. Temples come in all forms and sizes, from grand Black Rock City projects, to small spaces such as Heart and Home at Kiwiburn 2026, New Zealand’s Regional Event.
Heart & Home by Kym S and David Y at Kiwiburn 2026 (Photo by Please Help)
Each of these Temples is a different expression of the same impulse: to create a space together where people can slow down, reflect, connect, and honor those we have lost.
Powered by Participation and Philanthropy
The Temple has always been built by the community. Roll up your sleeves, the Temple welcomes your participation, wherever you are! There are so many ways to pitch in — from hands-on building, to remote support, to offering a financial gift. The build will take place in the Bay Area, with the exact location still to be determined.
Get involved early, join some of the build weeks this spring, or get dusty as part of the on-playa Temple crew — no build experience necessary. Fill out this short form to pitch in, whether you start small or go big, and follow along on social media. Recruitment will happen in stages, starting with team leads, then welcoming volunteers throughout the process.
Burning Man operates without corporate sponsorship. This global cultural movement is fueled by generosity and philanthropy — and the Temple is no exception. The Temple grant covers only a portion of the costs; the rest comes from community gifts of all sizes. Contribute today to be among the first Temple donors, and look for future opportunities to give over the next 10+ months.
The Temple Ceiling Plan, 2026 (Rendering by Steve Brummond)
Burning Man is a global cultural movement that invites you to become the most connected, creative version of yourself, and we build it together. Whether you join the Temple build, bring your own artwork, support others in their visions, or carry that spirit home to your own community, step out of the role of spectator and into active participation. Like a fractal, countless smaller pieces come together to form something greater. Every contribution helps create the Temple, just as the individual acts of creativity, generosity, and participation from thousands of people make Black Rock City, and the global Burning Man community, possible.
Cover image: night rendering of The Temple by Steve Brummond