Here's Your Chance To Redesign Burning Man's Iconic City Plan

If you've ever been walking around a festival and thought, "I could design a better layout than this," then now's your chance to put your money where your mouth is, Mr Smart Guy, because Nevada's annual Burning Man event has put out an open call — internationally, to anyone — to submit redesign ideas for the festival's Black Rock City street layout.

As reported by architecture publication Arch Daily and confirmed by the Black Rock City Ministry Of Urban Planning, the festival is looking for "new spatial and geometric possibilities for the city" after nearly two decades of the same layout, with the current city plan having been implemented back in 1997.

"Every year there is a new theme, new art, and new people, but the city plan is always the same," organisers wrote in an explanatory statement. "The existing plan has served the community very well, but by creating new city plans, we can create a new world every year."

According to BRCMUP, the competition is divided into two stages: in the first, "entrants will submit a single-page drawing, sketch or rendering of their design, along with a brief statement about its intent and ideas for further development". Additionally, this stage will also be open to entrants wanting to submit "elements, such as roundabouts, to be incorporated into larger-scale plans".

"The goal in this stage is to identify promising ideas for further development, so these proposals needn't be especially detailed," BRCMUP wrote in their announcement. "The entries will be displayed online for a public vote."

Following the vote, the top 10 entries will advance to the competition's second stage, where entrants "will be invited to develop detailed street-level designs, with an emphasis on traffic flow, logistics, and safety considerations", with the first-round "elemental" designs — the roundabouts and such — being available for second-stage finalists to utilise in their own ideas.

The earliest we'll see any of the new city plans actually being implemented is 2017, but registration to redesign Black Rock City is open now, with stage-one entries being accepted from October through till New Year's Eve this year. Stage two runs from January to May 2016, with the finalists' designs being displayed as an art installation at the festival in 2016.

Check out some of the criteria below, and if you're up for it, seriously, register and find out more at the BRCMUP's website.

black rock city design competition criteria

• The city plan should fit within the existing pentagonal boundaries of the event (see previous year city plans as a guideline). Non-conforming entries will be accepted, but keep in mind that the boundaries are determined in part by the BLM.
• The Man and The Temple should be central focii of the city plan.
• The city plan should provide a large open area or areas for art installations, while the ratio of open space and camping space should be similar to the 2015 city plan.
• The city plan should be navigable and have a straightforward addressing or coordinate system (an important requirement for safety services so they can easily locate an address in the city).
• Other than that, no limits or preconceptions!