LAND ART GENERATOR INITIATIVE - LAGI 2020
BURNING MAN & FLY RANCH
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The annual Burning Man event transforms a desolate corner of northern Nevada into a thriving temporary metropolis fueled by creativity, experimentation, and awe. In 2016, the organization behind this city acquired Fly Ranch, a 3,800 acre property just north of the event site.
This property is home to dozens of hot and cold springs, three geysers, acres of wetlands, dozens of animal species, and more than 100 identified types of plants.
The Fly Ranch project is an opportunity to create a year-round rural incubator for Burning Man culture and a catalyst for innovation and creativity in the world. To host residencies, gatherings, and projects at Fly Ranch, the site will need infrastructure. We could bring generators, bottled water, packaged food, tents, and dispose of our waste off-site, but why would we do that when we have the opportunity to mobilize the deserttested ingenuity of the Burning Man community and the inspiration of a greater creative culture to build scalable and sustainable solutions in one of the harshest climates in the world?
The Land Art Generator initiative (LAGI) was founded in 2008 to engage the world in an exploration of how art in public space can actively contribute to a sustainable future, and how renewable energy infrastructure can become a beautiful and relevant extension of human culture. Since the launch of the first LAGI open-call design competition in 2010, thousands of creative minds from over 80 countries have responded to the challenge with designs for site-specific public art installations that have the added benefit of large-scale clean energy and water generation.
Inspired by the history of the nomadic tribes that once lived in this area, we decided to call our project FREELANDER.
Our proposal is a large-scale intervention strategy that allows the users to freely experience the place through the use of different devices that we designed.
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ARGO and the Ghost Dancers: FREELANDER strategy for the Fly Ranch
Our Project is deeply rooted in history, in the places and tribes that have characterized these places. It tries to inspire new users to get in touch with the old spirits through a new approach, which bases on the innovative and eco-sustainable use of new technologies.
The history of this land, so hostile to human life, leads us to retrace the footsteps of its first inhabitants, the Paiute Indians, nomadic gatherers who survived to a semi-arid steppe environment by living in intertwined bush huts. We began our creative process from this assumption, and we developed a strategy that takes shape by digging into the heart of these people.
Inspired by the history of the nomadic tribes that once lived in this area, we decided to call our project FREELANDER. Our proposal is a large-scale intervention strategy that allows the users to freely experience the place through the use of different devices that we designed.
These devices represent a symbolic way to reinterpret three recurring themes in the history of these places: the travel, the nomadic life, the ritual collectivity.
The nomadic life: R.A.N.C.H.
For a true nomadic experience, it is fundamental to have the appropriate means.
R.A.N.C.H. is not only a survival kit but an integral part of the journey itself. Thanks to the materials that it contains, R.A.N.C.H. can help to the desert for up to two days. In this way, the visitors would be able to immerse themselves completely in nature.
Inside it we can find various tools necessary to survive and orientate within the area. In addition to these camping standards, the R.A.N.C.H. carries a HUT and an ENVIRONMENTAL MAP too.
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FREELANDER
Team :
Progect by : SPACE TRAVELLERS
Artistic Partner:
FEM LABORATORIO CREATIVO
Image by: NUBE ARCHITETTURE
THE GOST DANCERS
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The ritual collectivity:
GHOST DANCERS.
The name GHOST DANCERS comes from the cult of the Dance of the Spirits. With their ritual movements, these Spirits were able to invoke the animals and the rain. The Paiute population considered them as gods. Therefore our three sculptures are inspired by them.GHOST DANCERS is both the main base-camp of the area and a sculpture that represents the strongest landmark of the project. It acts simultaneously as a terminal and departure deck for all the visitors, offering them space to shelter, refreshment, and care during daytime and nighttime.
ARGO
The journey: ARGO
ARGO is a device that allows to freely rooms through all the different areas of our project. paths of the desert. Its propulsion mechanism is made up by a huge rotating sail and by four wheels of large diameter that are powered by the thrust of the wind and, just occasionally, by a cycling back-up system. Following a study of the main air currents that cross the area, we have created an itinerant route that allows to have the wind in favor most of the time. The crew planned for Argo is composed of a helmsman, four cyclists, two people in charge of the sails and a lookout at the bow. Moreover, it can also carry up to four other people for a total of twelve crew members.