For Immediate Release
Black Rock City, NV
The new ephemeral architecture of Burning Man
Press Photos Kit The Media Say…
San Francisco, CA
Published by Real Paper Books, Black Rock City, NV, showcases the vernacular architecture of Burning Man.
Filled with 200 color photographs by author Philippe Glade, this hardcover book explores the broad diversity of
dwellings built to accommodate precarious living conditions in a remote American desert.
Hardcover with Linen Cloth and Orange Cloth Bookmark
11.5 x 9.5 inches ≈ 29 x 24 cm
200 Photographs
1 Satellite View and 1 City Map
144 pages
$ 40
ISBN 978-0-9837428-1-4
Black Rock City doesn’t exist on any official map.
Even so, once a year this temporary city thrives in the unforgiving
Black Rock Desert of Nevada where 80,000 inhabitants
participate at the biggest art gathering in the world.
The artistic nature of the Burning Man event, taking place on a vast stretch of hardened mud,
invites all participants to create distinctive habitats, durable to withstand a week of extreme,
harsh weather conditions, but as well, modular to be dismantled at the end of the event,
leaving no physical impact or remains upon its surrounding environment.
Numerous challenges confront everyone: a strict Leave No Trace policy,
devastating 40 - 60 mph winds, a scorching sun,
unexpected rains and frigid nights; that call for a bespoke habitat
built with a mix of sheer improvisation, structural integrity,
comfort and yearlong planning.
For architects, designers, urban planners, not to mention students,
the book offers a thorough survey of weather-tested temporary
and nomadic shelters as seen nowhere else.
This large typology of structures covers hundreds of solutions
found in the distinctive layout of a bustling city that disappears
after a week to rise again a year later.
Insightful captions and hundreds of resources make it
a valuable reference book for years to come in the rising field
of ephemeral architecture and urbanism.
French born author and photographer, Philippe Glade draws
from a 20 years experience in the Black Rock Desert a large compendium
of structures and dwellings built to survive with style (or not)
the American desert in the 21st century.
Discovering the city in 1996, he realised that he was witnessing
a nascent sociological event and started documenting
the organic evolution of its adaptive architecture.
He maintains the blog This is Black Rock City and presents every year
the Golden Rebar Award for the new and innovative structures of the city.
Real Paper Books
732 Masonic Avenue
San Francisco CA 94117
415 283 6932
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