SAND BLOCKS
Sand moulds for making sand bricks
Grunewald in Berlin, which I have chosen as my place, has a special sand dune, which was created by natural phenomena and human intervention. Because of this special feature, it became a children’s playground in nature. Because of these characteristics, I looked for a way for children to communicate (play) directly with this place. That is, the material of the place becomes a toy (sand building bricks) and the toy becomes a children’s own world.
| student: | Yerin Kim |
| project: | (con)temporary crust |
| year: | 2021 |
| Location of inspiration: | Grunewald, Berlin |
| Material: | light and dark sand, casein, water |
| Method of manufacturing: | – silicone mould – mix the sand with water containing casein – allow to dry for at least three days, then demould |
| Temporal aspect: | seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks — it depends on the behavior of the children, the structure they create |
full concept text
The origin of this special sand dune dates back to more than 20,000 years ago. During the period of the Vistula Ice Age, the boulder clay typical of ground moraines is largely absent and therefore older deposits, the meltwater sands, become visible.
In the 1970s and 1980s, when the area was industrialized, more than 3.5 million qm of fine sand was extracted for building materials, and a large open pit was created 15-25 m below the adjacent forests. This is the reason for the special dune landscape. Because of these features, it is now used as a recreational area and is especially popular with children. You can often see children playing with the sand as if they were on the beach.
Children interact with the features of this place, a sand hill, and bring out a lively atmosphere. What if children made their own toys with sand and practically communicated with this place? What if the material of the place becomes entirely a child’s toy?
My idea started with the characteristics of these places and these two questions. Sand building bricks are formed in sand moulds by adding water and casein. These can be inserted into each other, stacked and put together. By making different types of sand bricks, different play possibilities can be created.
With these sand moulds, sand, water and casein, children can create their own world on sand dunes. Sometimes a small world the size of a child’s hand can be created or a world big enough for the child to hide. Someone else can follow the trail and explore new directions. This world is created exclusively by children and also disappears again as if it had never been there.
Aren’t children truly communicating with the place by looking at their own play world which they are created to return to nature? Through another world created by this place, they can communicate with nature and gain a new perspective on the place.