www.fastcompany.com: It’s not just the effigies that burn at Burning Man. Last year, temperatures in the Black Rock desert reached nearly 100 degrees. And so the 70,000 attendees–at least those without posh glamping setups–had to weather the heat with nothing more than water and shade.
3 comments:
That is the most interesting blanket ever. To think the reverse of the commonly accepted facets of a blanket - to warm someone up - and made out of the opposite materials of what people would associate with the soft and comfy standard blanket is the most visually stunning blanket ever. Not only does the mere vastness draw your eyes, but I immediately was drawn the innate ability for it to flow and change shape. Its fluidity and silk-like features create this stunning landscape that creates some of the most intriguing and incredible shapes. And I have to agree that this sort of out there artistic endeavor is perfect for Burning Man. It almost creates this sea of silver that just makes you feel dwarfed in this liquid solid. A sea of mercury. I could definitely see how someone would see it and just want to go play with it, I know I would.
This is a truly creative way of creating a form of cool shelter in the middle of a desert that fits remarkably well within the theme of the event. The blanket offers a respite from the sun, is made out of a metal alloy, ripples uncontrollably, and offers a place to play. This idea really exemplifies to me what is truly special about our industry. We take something that is made exclusively for one purpose and repurpose it for another. This blanket was initially built by NASA for a singular purpose then started being used by professional sports to control body temperature of injured athletes, but is now being used as a way of cooling down in the middle of the desert. This is truly incredible to me because had I been asked to find a way to cool down those people I would suggest building little sheds or just creating tents to get out of the sun in and maybe shoving fans in those tents. I would never have even known to look at this blanket as a potential solution much less execute on it. I love repurposing things to serve a new purpose above all else and this is an unbelievably intelligent and creative use of this technology.
There is now a solution to staying cool in the sweltering Black Rock desert, where temperatures climbed towards 100 degrees. To make matters more complex, the 70,000 visitors to the site had to deal with the heat with on water and shade. However, space technology may just change the way these visitors go through their day. An artist by the name of Alex Shtanuk prosed a beautiful solution: a "NASA" blanket. It has thermal reflective properties engineered by NASA in the 60s specifically to keep astronauts safe in the frigid space environment. The blanket would be ferocious in size with a footprint as large as
" your average Walmart". The material being used to hold the blanket together makes the project even more unique, the material to hold together the blankets is 24 miles worth of tape. Shtanuk feels this project is groundbreaking and will change the way festival goers enjoy Black Rock.
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