Burning Man 2018 will have a 25 meter mirrored sphere

Known as a utopian mecca of artistic freedom and self expression, Nevada festival Burning Man has garnered a reputation for out of the box thinking and 2018’s event will run from August 26th through September 3rd, based on the theme ‘I, Robot’.

Two creative minds who want to push the bar via this years Burning Man are Bjarke Ingels and Jakob Lange, architects from BIG. The pair have plans to bring a giant inflatable mirrored sphere titled ‘The Orb’ to the festival. 25 meters in diameter and held in the air by an inclined steel mast that is 32 meters in length, it will be visible from every corner of the festival zone by day, and disappear into the dark backdrop of the desert by night.

Currently crowdsourcing via an Indiegogo campaign, BIG are attempting to raise $50,000 with a current $8,980 raised. Perks for backers include packs of postcards, signed certificates and engraved steel spheres of various sizes, the largest being 100cm in diameter.

They have already funded a “majority” of the project themselves having sourced 30 tons of steel and spent 2500 hours welding and sewing the materials.

BIG said: “Scaled to 1/500,000 of the earth’s surface with a diameter of nearly 100 ft – The ORB is a mirror for earth lovers – reflecting the passing daytime, evolving life & other art works beneath it – a new planet to sci-fi fans, a wayfinder for travelers or just a huge disco ball to those who love a good party! Help us complete our fundraising & bring it to The Playa!”

Find their Indiegogo campaign here and get more information on Burning Man here.